Sunderland welcome Blackburn Rovers to the Stadium of Light for a Boxing Day Championship fixture with both teams battling inconsistency lately.
Sunderland are coming off a 1-1 draw at Hull City in their previous Championship fixture. They opened the scoring after the break through Ross Stewart but were unable to hold on to their lead and were pegged back by the hosts.
That result highlights Sunderland’s defensive problems as they have led in their last two matches but failed to win any of them. Tony Mowbray’s men remain in the bottom half of the table and will be keen to avoid getting dragged into a relegation scrap.
One of the problems for Sunderland is that they have failed to make their home matches count in recent weeks. The Black Cats have lost three of their last four fixtures at the Stadium of Light and were beaten 2-1 by West Brom in their previous outing in front of their fans.
Blackburn Rovers remain third on the table, although they have also not been at their best lately. They crashed out of the Carabao Cup in midweek after suffering a 4-1 home defeat to Premier League side Norwich City.
Rovers’ Championship form in recent weeks has not been particularly impressive having suffered three defeats in their last five matches. However, they claimed a 2-0 victory at Norwich City in their previous away fixture.
The victory at Norwich highlights a decent away record for Blackburn in recent weeks. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men have won three of their last five matches on the road, claiming victories over Middlesbrough and Hull City in that run.
How the bookies view it
Sunderland have the edge among the bookies and are priced at 13/10 by William Hill to claim the win. A victory for Blackburn Rovers is valued at 9/4 with Unibet while bet365 is offering odds of 23/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Sunderland have a 42-31 advantage with 19 draws from 92 previous matches against Blackburn Rovers. However, Rovers claimed a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in October with Ben Brereton opening the scoring.
Players to watch
Ross Stewart has impressed for Sunderland this season and heads into Monday’s clash with three goals in his last two matches. The attacker could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 2/1 with BetVictor.
Ben Brereton has looked slightly off colour lately but remains the leading scorer for Blackburn Rovers with nine goals. The striker was on target in the reverse fixture with Sunderland and is priced at 13/5 by Paddy Power to find the net on Monday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both teams have some quality in attack and could be backed to score at 10/11 with William Hill. Sunderland have seen over 2.5 goals in four of their last five home matches and a repeat is priced at 6/5 with bet365 while over 3.5 goals is valued at 16/5 by Unibet.
With Sunderland often throwing away leads, Blackburn Rovers could be tipped to win from behind at 17/1 with BetVictor.
This England Championship match between Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers will be played on and kick off at 12:30. Check below for our tipsters best Sunderland vs Blackburn Rovers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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