Wycombe Wanderers vs Sunderland Predictions

• Both teams scored in both regular season fixtures, a 3-1 home win for Sunderland in August and a 3-3 draw at Wycombe in January.
• Sunderland have scored in 16 of their last 19 games.
• Wycombe have scored in 15 of their last 18.
• Wycombe’s Sam Vokes has five goals in his last eight appearances.

Wembley date for Sunderland and Wycombe

Sunderland and Wycombe meet in the League One play-off final on Saturday as the two sides battle it out for a place in the Championship.

The Black Cats are bidding to end a four-year stay in the third tier of English football and their play-off heartache. Sunderland lost out in the semi-finals last season and lost the final in their first year at this level.

Wycombe are bidding to bounce back at the first attempt after relegation last season, and both sides go into this game in good form.

Sunderland overcame Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals and are unbeaten in their last 15 games (W8, D7). Wycombe overcame MK Dons 2-1 in their own semi-final assignment, losing the second leg 1-0 as they saw a 13 game unbeaten streak brought to an end.

Both sides capable of scoring

Sunderland enjoyed the better of the regular season clashes between the two teams as they won 3-1 at the Stadium of Light and claimed a point in a 3-3 draw at Wycombe back in January.

As both of those games featured plenty of goals and considering just how much is at stake on Saturday, both teams to score looks a good option for the main bet.

There have been goals at both ends in five of Sunderland’s last eight games and they have only failed to score themselves in three of their last 19 games. The Chairboys may have failed to score at the Stadium MK last time out but it is worth noting that essentially they were already 2-0 up when that game kicked off, and they have only failed to score in three of their last 18 fixtures including that second-leg.

Little to separate the two sides

Something has to give here as these two in-form teams face off  and ultimately I feel Wycombe may just edge it but it wouldn’t be a surprise if extra time, and potentially penalties, was required to separate them on the day.

In terms of a correct score result it could pay to be bold and a 2-2 draw looks a tempting option. Wycombe have scored exactly two goals in three of their last six games, while Sunderland are averaging 1.6 goals-per-game over their last 15 games and 1.5 since Alex Neil took charge in mid-February.

Sam Vokes, who signed a new deal with Wycombe earlier this week, stands out as an anytime scorer option as he was on target against MK Dons in the first leg and he finished the season in fine form, with four goals and two assists in seven games before the play-offs began.

Sunderland predicted lineup: Patterson, Wright, Batth, Cirkin, Gooch, O’Nien, Evans, Clarke, Pritchard, Roberts, Stewart

Wycombe predicted lineup: Stockdale, McCarthy, Stewart, Tafazolli, Jacobson, Gape, Scowen, McCleary, Horgan, Obita, Vokes