- Sheffield Wednesday won at Sunderland on the final day of last season
- The Owls have won their last five competitive fixtures
- Recommended bet: Sheffield Wednesday to win

In-form Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to make it three wins from three to start the new season when they travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland on Sunday.

The Owls opened the campaign with a resounding 4-0 league thumping of Plymouth and followed that up with a 2-1 road success at Hull City in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Sunderland also won their Championship opener, beginning life under new head coach Regis Le Bris with a 2-0 triumph at Cardiff, but that optimism was then tempered by their 2-0 loss at Preston in the cup.

Team news

Sunderland have no fresh injury concerns to contend with, although defender Daniel Ballard is still a few weeks away from returning from his knee issue.

Le Bris has also confirmed summer signing Ian Poveda, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, is not yet ready to make his debut.

Sheffield Wednesday will once again have to do without goalkeeper Ben Hamer and midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, but centre-back Akin Famewo could feature after missing the league opener against Plymouth with a knock.

The stats

Sunderland failed to win their final seven home matches of last season, losing five of those, including suffering a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the campaign.

Wednesday are on a five-match winning run in competitive fixtures, a sequence that stretches back to last season, while they are unbeaten in eight games since going down 2-0 at Middlesbrough in early April.

The Owls have also won their last four away fixtures across all competitions, scoring at least two goals in each of those games.

The away team emerged victorious in both meetings between these two last term, Sunderland triumphing 3-0 at Hillsborough in September before Wednesday's 2-0 success at the Stadium of Light in May.

Sunday's contest will be Sunderland head coach Le Bris’ first competitive home match in charge of the Black Cats.

Prediction

Sheffield Wednesday are flying under Danny Rohl, not only did the German successfully steer them well clear of the relegation zone last season, but he now has Owls supporters dreaming of bigger things this term.

While much of the talk after last weekend's demolition of Plymouth surrounded the visitors and their new boss Wayne Rooney, Rohl's side still delivered an assured display and they followed it up with victory at Hull in the cup.

They have now won five competitive games on the bounce, a run that includes last season's final day trumph against Sunderland, who struggled badly on home soil during the final weeks of the campaign.

Improving their home record will be one of the main priorities for new Black Cats boss Le Bris and he may well start getting a tune out of his side at the Stadium of Light in the near future, but given Wednesday's form, that upward turn is unlikely to begin on Sunday.

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