Martin Wanless predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Brobbey
This game will give us a good indication whether we’re going to be mid-table or bottom five this season – and while we are looking
at this fixture as a great chance for three points, Wolves are too – make no mistake about that!
We’ve obviously got a few injury concerns, but that just opens the door for someone else to stake a claim – and I think it’s the perfect occasion to bring Brian Brobbey into the fray.
Hopefully he gets his first goal in red and white, and the lads get a win in what I’m expecting to be a tight game.

‘The Champion’ Malc Dugdale predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ballard
The lads lost the first half hour before the international break, and though our showing was decent for the rest of our outing at Old Trafford, we came away with nothing.
Today, we have a few injury concerns, but we will have a bouncing home stadium, a new bridge, and a potential couple of new faces who can grab the chance to shine in a game where we hope and maybe even expect to get all three points, after hoping at least for something on the red side of Manchester.
Ballard has continued his ascendancy in his games for the Emerald Isle in the break, and I am backing him to start and to get a goal from an early set piece. If this happens, we will rock an under-confident Wolverhampton, and a 2 or three nil win will put us right back on track for a top-half berth and maybe even better.
I’d take a point to be honest, as at some point Wolves will click and get a couple of results… but not today please.

Jack Howe-Gingell predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Le Fee
We had our first real Premier League-level bump after being comfortably beaten by Manchester United last week, and it’s a timely reminder of how tough this level is.
Wolves have struggled so far this season, but I’d hope we don’t take that into account and really give a strong performance. Bouncing back with three points would be fantastic and would add to our wonderful start to the season.
Another injury woe in the shape of Noah Sadiki is a real blow if he cannot feature, as we will miss his constant running and tenacity, but once again, it is a chance for someone else to shine. Perhaps it is Lutsharel Geertruida who will be the latest man to make his full debut, operating as a defensive midfielder as he has in most of his substitute appearances.
I think we will have enough at home to put Wolves to the sword, though I have a bit of a concern with Sadiki missing because of how much he offers. As with most matches, us being strong at the back will provide the platform for success.

Will Jones predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Talbi
The Old Trafford trip was a reality check, no doubt, but it’s one we’ll learn from. We grew into the game, showed flashes, and if a couple of decisions had gone our way, who knows?
But that’s done now, and Wolves at home is a different kind of challenge, and arguably a more important one.
They’re winless, low on confidence, and exactly the sort of side we need to be beating if we’re serious about staying clear of the bottom five.
That said, we’ve all seen this movie before: the struggling team turns up, gets a dodgy goal, and Jeff Stelling’s voice echoes in our heads. But this Sunderland side feels different. There’s bite, there’s belief, and there’s a crowd that’s starting to expect wins, not just hope for them.
Talbi is due one. He’s been lively, he’s come close against Villa and United, and I reckon this is the game where he finally gets off the mark, maybe a scrappy finish, maybe something brilliant, but either way, it’ll lift the roof.
Wolves will make it awkward, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they nick one, but I think we’ll have enough to see it through.
Three points, a bounce back, and a reminder that the Stadium of Light is starting to feel like home again.

Matty Foster predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Wolves 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Isidor
Regardless of how bad Wolves’ start has been, this will be a tough game.
They’ve managed to quell their five-game losing streak with two consecutive score draws, but will be desperate to record their first win.
This is a fantastic test for us. The Sunderland of old always seemed to be charitable to sides in poor form.
But what I’ve seen so far, this doesn’t feel like that Sunderland.
The Old Trafford defeat was disappointing, but we’ll have plenty of games like that this season.
But I’m going with my heart in saying today will not be one of those games.

Anthony Gair predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Wolves 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Isidor
The first match I’m not going to make due to work commitments. Gutted.
This, at the beginning of the season, without a ball being kicked, we would have looked at this and thought “we could get something off Wolves at home”.
Obviously, we’ve started the season better than most of us could have dreamed, but Wolves are performing better with every passing game, too.
I just have a feeling that we’ll come out with a disappointing draw – I hope I’m wrong like!
Isidor to open with our goal too is my call. He’s firing, and he’s only going to get better as the season continues!

Gary Winter predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Xhaka
This fixture today offers a great chance to get back on the right track – at home against the team propping up the table. The trip to Old Trafford wasn’t what we’d hoped for, and we were naive for the first half an hour. Perhaps a little lesson to take with us, as there was almost an expectation we’d walk away with a win.
Wolves at home are probably not quite as straightforward as they look at first glance. After starting the campaign with five straight league defeats, they are unbeaten in the last three in all competitions, coming seconds away from a win at Tottenham recently. Strand Larsen has been very quiet as well so far, and it’ll be important for us to keep it that way.
I’ll opt for Captain Granit to get us going with the first goal today, which will be very well-received in the stands!

Brett Lyons-Davis predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Wolves 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Xhaka
It seems a long time ago since we were all looking forward to a trip to Old Trafford, confident of getting a decent result…
Well, we know that didn’t quite go according to plan, but the Lads did improve as the game went on, and who knows what would have happened if a couple of decisions had gone our way.
That’s though in the past, and winless Wolves come to the Stadium of Light. In typical Sunderland style, you can almost hear Jeff Stelling say, “and Wolves without a win all season… Until now”. We do, though, know that this is not typical Sunderland; we are actually pretty good these days, and the big questions will be around who’s come back from international duty fit.
This game is much more important than the trip to Manchester, but the lads should be too much for Wolves. I’ll have Granit Xhaka get his first for the club in a comfortable win.

Last time out…
The Lads lost the first half hour away at Man Utd before the international break, but despite that poor first 30 minutes, they could well have come away with something on another day and with a little more luck/different decisions from the officials.
Unfortunately, we went two goals behind in the first half hour, and despite a positive remaining 60 minutes, we could not force a goal in to make the final stretch of the game as nervy as we wanted it to be.
Losing the first half 2-0 and then drawing the second 0-0 away at Old Trafford is not as bad an outcome as we may have seen, so we draw a line and move on to Wolves today with lessons learned and a desire to get points cumulating again as soon as we can.

Last game predictions
None of the RR lads went for a loss, which is understandable yet odd for us SAFC fans.
As we failed to get any goals either, the table gathered no points for the Predictions lads.

Predictions Table and Standings
No change in the table from the last edition.
Brett is top, and being suitably smug that everyone wants that to change in a hurry.
Last year’s champ Malc is bottom, and is leading the chant for the MK Mackems form to falter.

How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goalscorer is a valid call)
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = a two-point deduction.