Sunderland Favourites For Papa John’s Wembley Feast
11 March 2021
The Black Cats are tipped to win the EFL Papa John’s Trophy Final this Sunday at Wembley. The team will face Tranmere Rovers and Sunderland coach Lee Johnson will be hoping for a little less drama than the Semi-Final last month against Lincoln, when Sunderland were forced to fight back from 1-0 down to eventually win 5-3 on penalties at the Stadium of Light.
League Two side Tranmere upset the odds to beat Oxford United 2-0 in the other Semi-Final, with goals from Kaiyne Woolery and Kieron Morris. The Wirral side have only lost 3 of the 17 matches they have played since the start of the year and are currently in fourth place in League Two, fighting hard for promotion. Manager Keith Hill has overseen a transformation at the club since his appointment last November and, although Tranmere will be viewed as underdogs on Sunday, the team will be hoping to upend the apple cart once more.
Sunderland’s record at Wembley is dismal; since beating Leeds to lift the FA Cup back in 1973, the Black Cats have suffered seven successive Wembley defeats. Their last appearance was in 2019 when they were defeated 2-1 by Charlton in the League One Play-Off Final and the team’s battle to return to the Championship continues. Currently, with 60 points, Sunderland are only 5 points behind Hull City in a very tight race for promotion this time round. Like Tranmere, Sunderland are enjoying a period of good form having lost only one match since January and fans are looking forward to a competitive encounter.
Certainly, bookmakers are confident that Sunderland will put their bad record at Wembley to bed on Sunday with bookie BetVictor offering odds of 2/5 for a Sunderland win. In contrast, Tranmere’s chances of a win are considered pretty slim with Willliam Hill’s odds of 2/1 representative of the market. The most popular correct score tip is for a Sunderland 2-0 winning margin.
The EFL Papa John’s Trophy Final will be played this Sunday, 14 March, at 3pm. In a historic first, the postponed final from 2020 – Portsmouth v Salford City – will be played on Saturday at 3pm. Football fans will enjoy this feast of football finals, which the EFL is calling the “Wembley Weekender”, with Sky Sports showing both matches.