Sunderland

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Sunderland enter this knockout tie with home advantage and near-full squad availability, missing only H. Diarra. In contrast, Hull City are dealing with eight reported injuries, including J. Butland, D. Gyabi, C. Hughes, E. Matazo, O. Zambrano, I. Ansah, M. Crooks, and J. Gelhardt. Backing Sunderland with the draw refund provides protection against Hull's defensive resilience while accounting for the hosts' squad depth advantage.

Recent head-to-head meetings between Sunderland and Hull City have consistently produced low scorelines, with each of their last four clashes finishing with exactly one goal (1-0 or 0-1). Furthermore, only 33.3 percent of their previous nine encounters have exceeded 2.5 goals. Hull City have conceded just one goal across their last five matches, playing out two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win in that span, making another low-scoring contest the most probable outcome.

Brentford have started the campaign in strong form, remaining unbeaten through two Premier League fixtures with four goals scored and only one conceded. Their 3-0 home victory against Tottenham showed their ability to control matches on their own ground. Sunderland struggled in their only away fixture this season, falling 2-1 to Ipswich. Backing Brentford to either win or draw covers the most likely outcomes while accounting for Sunderland's recent bounce-back victory against Fulham.

Fulham bring a formidable head-to-head record into this clash, having won the last three competitive encounters between the teams, including a 3-1 league victory at the Stadium of Light in February 2026. While both sides suffered narrow defeats on the opening weekend, Fulham's attacking output of two goals against Chelsea suggests they possess the offensive quality to secure at least a point on the road.

Both teams found the net in each of the last two competitive meetings, and both exhibited strong offensive scoring runs in their respective pre-season fixtures.

Ipswich have dominated recent competitive meetings with Sunderland, winning both of their last two league head-to-heads by 2-1 margins, while also showing lethal finishing in pre-season.

Home advantage at Portman Road and a favorable record in recent clashes give Ipswich the upper hand to take all three points.