Sunderland vs Hull City Prediction and Betting Tips: Clarke to find the net in 9/1 Bet Builder

Friday Night Football arrives from the Championship this week as Sunderland welcome Hull to the Stadium of Light. Read below about our best bets for the game that can be seen live on Sky Sports at 8pm.

Heading into Friday’s clash The Black Cats sit seventh in the second-tier table, however play-off spots may be at a premium this season in one of the highest quality renewals of the Championship ever. A gap of 11 points separates Sunderland in seventh and Leeds in fourth but a win here for Mick Beale’s side would see them leapfrog Coventry into sixth before The Sky Blues travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Hull sit just one point behind Sunderland in ninth position after 27 matches. Just four points separate 6th and 14th in the table with plenty of teams including Liam Rosenior now having the chance to put a strong run of results together at a key point in the campaign. 

At 10/11 with a range of betting sites including bet365, we are backing Sunderland to win the match. It hasn’t been all plain sailing for Mick Beale since he took the helm in the North East. The former Rangers boss has taken seven points from six matches, with league wins against Hull and Preston as well as a point against Rotherham, but he has suffered 3-0 home defeats to both Coventry and Newcastle in the FA Cup. 

Last week Beale’s side took the lead on the road at Ipswich but ended up losing the match 2-1. We think they can make amends for that defeat on Friday and we’ve seen enough under the new coach to believe he can lead this side to the play-offs. Sunderland are strong at home in front of their raucous crowd and have won eight of their 13 home outings. 

Hull City have lost four of their last five league matches and appear to be struggling a little since the festive period. Their only win in that run came against strugglers Blackburn Rovers. The Tigers have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven across all competitions and a narrow victory for the hosts could be on the cards here.

We’ve also picked out a bet builder for the occasion which can be sided with at 9/1 with Sky Bet. The first half of this double is Sunderland’s Jack Clarke to find the net. Only Sammie Szmodics (16), Adam Armstrong (14) and Morgan Whittaker (14) have scored more league goals than Clarke this term. The 23-year-old has been by far the biggest threat for his side in the final third this season with no other member of his squad scoring more than 4 goals. 

Paired with Jack Clarke to score is Hull City’s Jacob Greaves to be carded. The midfielder has collected nine yellow cards already this season with only two players in the league having been brandished more in 2023/24. It’s interesting to see that eight of Greaves’ nine cautions this season have arrived in away matches, giving plenty of appeal to the price on show with Sky.