Sheffield Wednesday will play host to Sunderland in gameweek nine of the Championship on Thursday evening. The hosts are currently at the bottom of the league standings, while the visitors are in fifth place. Sheffield Wednesday’s return to the Championship has not gone well so far. They come into this match off the back of a 3-0 loss to Swansea last week. With that, they remain winless this season after eight matches. During that time, The Owls managed just two points and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Mansfield Town on penalties. The hosts are the only side in the Championship yet to win a match and have lost three of their four home games this season. They also failed to score in two of those matches. While things have not gone exactly according to plan as yet this season, The Owls did knock Sunderland out of the Carabao Cup last year. That could give them some belief in getting another big result here, though it will not be easy.
Meanwhile, Sunderland earned a playoff spot last season and look as though they are ready to challenge for promotion again this term. They were on a run of three consecutive wins this month but suffered a setback last week, losing to Cardiff City 1-0 at home. Still, they are currently in the top six with 13 points, two behind Hull City in fourth. The Blacks Cats have been good on the road of late, currently unbeaten in their last three matches. They also scored three goals in each of their last two. In contrast to their opponents, Sunderland are the second-highest-scoring team in the league, with 15 to date. Jack Clarke has scored five of those and is the league's joint-top scorer after eight games. The visitors are the favourites in this one.
Sunderland have lost three games this season, though it is worth noting that those were against teams that have been tipped to do well this season. In fact, two of those losses were to teams in the top three. The hosts, on the other hand, have been unable to secure a win, but they are not playing as poorly as their league position suggests. Therefore, we’re backing a Sunderland win but with the safety of our money back in case of a draw. Our Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland prediction: Sunderland Draw No Bet.