Sunderland will be aiming to maintain their recent good form when they welcome a resurgent Middlesbrough to the Stadium of Light for a Championship fixture. Boro have the quality to make things difficult but the Black Cats are looking confident at the moment and should have the upper hand here.
Sunderland are coming off a 2-0 victory over Watford in a midweek Championship fixture. They were largely untroubled for much of the encounter with goals in each half from Niall Huggins and Abdoullah Ba earning them all three points.
That result extends Sunderland’s recent good form as they have now lost just once in their last eight matches across all competitions. Tony Mowbray’s men have claimed six wins in that run and are beginning to entrench themselves in the playoff places as they sit fourth on the standings.
While Sunderland have plenty of reasons to be pleased with their campaign so far, results have been a bit erratic at the Stadium of Light. They have claimed three wins and angered two defeats from five home matches this season.
Middlesbrough appear to be finally getting their campaign back on track after enduring a difficult start to the season. They are now unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions, claiming four wins in that run.
Boro travel to the Stadium of Light off the back of a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City in a midweek Championship fixture. Second half efforts from Isaiah Jones and Emmanuel Latte Lath were enough to earn them their third straight Championship win and ease them away from the relegation zone.
A slight problem for Middlesbrough in the midst of their resurgence is a poor record on their travels having claimed just one win from their last five Championship away matches. However the good news is that the win came in their previous fixture on the road as they picked up a 3-2 victory at Watford.
How the bookies view it
Sunderland have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 29/20 by Unibet. A victory for Middlesbrough is valued at 2/1 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 by Paddy Power.
Head to head
Sunderland have a 49-36 advantage with 27 draws from 112 previous matches against Middlesbrough. The Black Cats also claimed a 2-0 victory in the most recent meeting at the Stadium of Light back in January.
Jack Clarke had a quiet outing in midweek but remains the leading scorer for Middlesbrough with seven Championship goals. The forward does not go too long without a goal and is priced at 13/5 by Paddy Power to find the net on Saturday.
Emmanuel Latte Lath has been in good form in recent weeks and could be worth keeping an eye on for Middlesbrough. The attacker has two goals in his last three matches and is priced at 12/5 by William Hill to get on the score sheet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Sunderland and Middlesbrough have plenty of attacking quality and could be set to produce goals on Saturday. Boro saw over 3.5 goals in their previous away fixture and a repeat is priced at 15/8 with Paddy Power while over 2.5 goals is valued at 7/10 by bet365.
The Black Cats have scored in both halves in four of their last five matches and could be set for a similar pattern at 9/4 with bet365.
This England Championship match between Sunderland and Middlesbrough will be played on Oct 7, 2023 and kick off at 12:30. Check below for our tipsters best Sunderland vs Middlesbrough prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
