Millwall and Sunderland meet at The Den on Saturday afternoon with both teams having lost their last two fixtures in the Championship.

Although these clubs are separated by eight positions in the standings, Millwall sit just six points adrift of the 11th-placed visitors.

Match preview

When Millwall dazzled in thrashing Sheffield Wednesday in Joe Edwards's first game, many would have expected a similar performance against Coventry City after the international break.

However, a surprise 3-0 home defeat to the Sky Blues was followed by a 3-1 reverse at Ipswich Town in midweek, leaving Edwards with much to ponder in the short term.

The former Chelsea assistant will have plans for the January transfer window, yet his focus must be on arresting a slump that has seen the Lions win just once in eight matches.

As a result, they now sit in 19th position in the table, albeit still seven points above the relegation zone, but they did have aspirations for promotion at one stage.

With Millwall having lost four of their most recent five fixtures at their East London base, this feels like a potentially-pivotal fixture in their season if they wish to make up some ground on the playoff spots.

To a lesser extent, the same applies to Sunderland who have suffered shock defeats to Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town since the international break.

Victories in those contests would have left the Black Cats sitting at least sixth in the table, heightening the frustration that must currently be felt by Tony Mowbray.

There had been a time when Sunderland were producing some standout performances on their travels, yet they have gone four matches without success away from the Stadium of Light.

Still only four points adrift of the top six, all is not lost for Sunderland, but they could quickly drop into the bottom half of the table unless they get back on track in the capital.

Team News

Kevin Nisbet has put himself in line for a Millwall recall after scoring as a substitute at Ipswich.

Billy Mitchell and George Honeyman are also in contention for starting roles with Edwards expected to ring the changes.

Goalkeeper Matija Sarkic is fit again after a lengthy injury layoff and may make his return to the starting XI.

Widespread alterations are expected to the Sunderland starting lineup, too, with Abdoullah Ba among those expected to return.

Alex Pritchard will be considered for a creative role, while one of Bradley Dack, Luis Semedo or Mason Burstow can expect to be named down the centre of the attack.

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Harding, Hutchinson, Wallace; Norton-Cuffy, Mitchell, Saville, Longman; Honeyman, Nisbet, Flemming

Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Seelt, Ballard, O'Nien, Hume; Neil, Ba; Roberts, Bellingham, Clarke; Burstow

We say: Millwall 2-2 Sunderland

With both teams having been poor since the return from the international break, this is a difficult one to call. Sunderland are always a threat in the final third, yet we feel that Millwall will take advantage of their growing uncertainty at the back to claim a point.

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