English Premier
2026-02-22 - Sunderland vs Fulham
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 22nd February 2026 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Sunderland
The FA Cup might be taking on more importance for Sunderland as they continue to make progress in the competition and with the Premier League future almost certainly secured for another campaign. Silverware may be prioritised over chasing a spot in any of the UEFA run competitions, but Regis Le Bris is only focusing on a game at a time as his team continues to overachieve.
The Black Cats beat Oxford United in the FA Cup Fourth Round and will face another lower League opponent in the Fifth Round, while they are 11th in the Premier League table and 6 points behind the top six places in the Division. The form at the Stadium of Light has been impressive, but Sunderland's unbeaten run was ended in the last League game here and they now hold a 7-5-1 record here.
Sunderland have gotten past Everton and Oxford United in the FA Cup, but the Premier League form has just stuttered of late with 3 losses in the last 4 top flight games played. They were beaten 0-1 by Liverpool in the last Premier League game at the Stadium of Light, but Sunderland had beaten Crystal Palace and Burnley in fixtures here prior to that loss.
Granit Xhaka and Bertrand Traore are expected to miss out, although the former could still return next weekend.
Fulham
Another Premier League team making quiet progress in the FA Cup is Fulham who came from behind to beat Stoke City last weekend. Marco Silva has never hidden his ambition to have a strong Cup run with his Fulham team and he will have been inspired by the successes of Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in the domestic Cup competitions last season to believe Fulham can do the same.
Chasing a spot in European Football has been another ambition the manager has stated, but Fulham have perhaps not backed him as much as he would have wanted and it is becoming increasingly likely that Marco Silva leaves at the end of the season. The side are 12th in the Premier League table and they are now 8 points behind the top six places, although Fulham fans will note that 8th would have been enough to earn a UEFA competition spot last season.
Fulham have beaten Middlesbrough and Stoke City in the FA Cup, but they have lost 4 of the 5 Premier League games played in between Rounds, including the last 3 in a row. Since beating West Ham United at the London Stadium, Fulham have earned a draw at Selhurst Park before losing 3 away Premier League games in a row.
Tom Cairney and Sasa Lukic are expected to be available, which would give Fulham a full squad to choose from.
Head to Head
A late goal earned Fulham a 1-0 home win over Sunderland earlier this season.
Sunderland have won 1 of the last 8 home games against Fulham and were beaten 2-3 here in a FA Cup Replay in February 2023.
Prediction
The layers are finding it very hard to separate two teams that are sitting in 11th and 12th place respectively in the Premier League table and Sunderland having just 2 points more than Fulham.
Both have made good progress in the FA Cup with wins at Championship clubs last weekend in the Fourth Round, but both Sunderland and Fulham have been struggling for recent Premier League form.
Sunderland being at home should have perhaps made them a slight favourite, but Regis Le Bris' team have been struggling for goals. They have not been a team creating huge chances all season, but opponents are perhaps getting to grips with some of the set pieces that Sunderland will throw at them, while The Black Cats are not keeping as many clean sheets as they would like.
Of course you have to point out the awful Premier League form that Fulham have been putting together with 4 losses in 5 games.
However, Marco Silva will make sure people know the amount of late goals Fulham have conceded and so will also be demanding more concentration from his players on the field. Injury time goals conceded cost Fulham draws at Leeds United and Manchester United and they were also leading Everton at home late on before conceding twice and losing that one too.
One goal may be enough for Fulham to avoid a defeat in this fixture, although Sunderland have to be respected for the way they have continued to perform at the Stadium of Light.
The loss to Liverpool will not have dented too much confidence and Sunderland had won consecutive home League games prior to that. However, there have been plenty of draws in the fixtures played at the Stadium of Light and backing the biggest price option in this win-draw-win market is not the worst approach to a difficult fixture to predict.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland 1-1 Fulham
