The Cumbrian-based official will travel to the Stadium of Light for his fourth game of the 2018-19 campaign after taking charge of two League One encounters and an Carabao Cup tie. Most recently, he took charge of Middlesbrough v Notts County at the Riverside Stadium as Boro ran our 4-3 winners on penalties after a six-goal thriller ended 3-3.
So far this season, Backhouse has shown seven yellow cards and no reds in those four games.
In his second season as an EFL match official, he has refereed the Iron on just one previous occasion, which was the side's 2-0 home win over Portsmouth last September, where he issued no cautions.
With Sunderland recently coming down from the second tier of English football, Backhouse is yet to referee the Black Cats in a competitive fixture, so will travel to the Stadium of Light for the very first time.
In 2017-18, he took charge of 33 games, issuing 102 yellow cards and seven red.
On Sunday, Backhouse will be assisted by Simon Clayton and Anthony Moore, while Geoffrey Liddle has been appointed as the fourth official.
PAST SCUNTHORPE ENCOUNTERS
| DATE | COMP | MATCH | Y | R |
| Sep 23, 2017 | LG 1 | Iron 2-0 Portsmouth | 0 | 0 |
PAST SUNDERLAND ENCOUNTERS
None
