Bradford City continue their preparations for the 2022-23 campaign as they welcome Sunderland to the Valley Parade Stadium in a thrilling friendly on Tuesday.
The Black Cats head into the game unbeaten in seven of their last eight meetings against Mark Hughes's sides and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
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Bradford City returned to winning ways in style as they comfortably saw off National League side York City 4-1 at the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday.
Strikes from Kian Scales, Andrew Cook, Lee Angol and Huddersfield Town loanee Kian Harratt saw Hughes's side cruise to victory as Lenell John-Lewis could only pull one back for the hosts.
Prior to that, the Bantams kicked off their pre-season with a 2-0 win over Bradford Park Avenue on July 1 before falling to a 2-0 loss against Derby County nine days later courtesy of first-half goals from Craig Forsyth and Tom Barkhuizen.
Having closed the 2021-22 campaign with a run of three straight victories in League Two, Bradford City have now won five of their last six games across all competitions, scoring 14 goals and conceding five in that time.
While they continue their preparations for the new season, next up is an opposing side who are unbeaten in all but one of their last eight encounters, with a 2-0 loss in the FA Cup back in 2015 being the exception.
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Elsewhere, manager Alex Neil watched on as his Sunderland side picked up their first victory of the pre-season when they comfortably edged out Dundee United 2-0 on Sunday.
Following an uneventful first half at Tannadice Park, Northern Irishman Trai Hume broke the deadlock in the 51st minute before Charlie Mulgrew scored a 62nd-minute own goal to put the result beyond doubt.
This followed a 2-0 defeat at the hands of AS Roma on July 13, when Felix Afena-Gyan and 23-year-old Nicolo Zaniolo scored in the final 15 minutes to hand the Italian side a hard-fought win.
The Black Cats, who secured their place in the Championship courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers in May's playoffs final, are now unbeaten in all but one of their last 18 games since February, claiming 11 wins and six draws in that time.
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Team News
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The newly-signed duo of Brad Holiday and Vadaine Oliver could come in for their first appearance for the West Yorkshire outfit after arriving from Fleetwood Town and Gillingham respectively.
Holiday could push 21-year-old Finn Cousin-Dawson down to the substitutes' bench, while we could see a centre-back pairing of Yann Songo'o and Matthew Platt shielding Harry Lewis between the sticks.
Meanwhile, Sunderland will take to the pitch without the services of 31-year-old forward Will Grigg, who completed a move to Milton Keynes Dons, bringing an end to his three-year stint at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats secured the services of promising defender Ajibola-Joshua Alese from West Ham United and the 21-year-old could be handed his debut on Tuesday.
Hume turned in a solid performance against Dundee United last time out and the 20-year-old should retain his place at the defensive end of the pitch.
Bradford City possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Holiday, Songo'o, Platt, Staunton; Smallwood, East; Young, Chapman, Walker; Angol
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, Alese, Ballard, Cirkin; Evans, Neil; Roberts, Pritchard, Dajaku; Diamond
We say: Bradford City 2-2 Sunderland
Bradford and Sunderland will look to continue their fine pre-season form as they head into Tuesday's game off the back of impressive victories. We anticipate a thrilling contest with both sides canceling out each other's efforts and settling for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
