📏 Form Guide

Sunderland

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Sunderland will want to continue from where they left off last time out with the 0-2 Championship triumph against Cardiff City.

In that match, Sunderland managed 44% possession and 18 attempts at goal with 8 on target. For Sunderland, the goals were scored by Adil Aouchiche (12') and Jobe Bellingham (27'). At the other end, Cardiff City got 8 shots on goal with 3 on target.

Mike Dodds's Sunderland have netted 5 times over their preceding 6 outings. The corresponding tally of goals that have been scored against them in those games amounts to 8.

Their previous form shows that Sunderland:

• have not lost a league tie with Blackburn Rovers in their previous 2 games.
• are without a win at home for the past 3 league matches.

Blackburn Rovers

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Since a losing effort in their last game against Ipswich Town in Championship action, Blackburn Rovers will be aiming to make amends here.

In that match, Blackburn Rovers had 53% possession and 8 attempts at goal with 3 of them on target. Ipswich Town got 11 attempts at goal with 3 of them on target. Conor Chaplin (9') scored for Ipswich Town.

It has become apparent that Blackburn Rovers have made hard work of scoring goals in their past six games, contributing the poor return of only 4. In those matches, Rovers have also seen the collective goal aggregate of opposing teams equal 6.

Analysis of their past results shows that Blackburn Rovers:

• have not emerged victorious against Sunderland in away games against them for the last 5 matches in the league. They really have not been travelling well at all.
• haven’t won away from home in the past 10 league matches. Who knows how long it might last, too.

👥 Head to head

Checking on their prior head-to-head meetings going back to 01/01/2011 shows us that Sunderland have won 4 of these games and Blackburn Rovers 2, with the tally of drawn results being 0.

An aggregate of 17 goals were scored between them in this period, with 10 from The Black Cats and 7 coming from Rovers. That’s an average goals per game of 2.83.

The previous league game between these clubs was Championship match day 7 on 20/09/2023 which ended up with the score at Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Sunderland.

That time, Blackburn Rovers had 58% possession and 22 attempts at goal with 6 of them on target. The scorer was Harry Leonard (35').

At the other end, Sunderland got 13 attempts on goal with 4 on target. Jack Clarke (28', 78') and Dan Neil (45') scored.

The match was refereed by John Busby.

ℹ️ Team News: Sunderland

Patrick Roberts (Thigh problems), Bradley Dack (Thigh problems), Corry Evans (Cruciate ligament injury), Dennis Cirkin (surgery) and Niall Huggins (Knee surgery) won’t be playing for Sunderland manager Mike Dodds.

🗞️ Team News: Blackburn Rovers

Thanks to a largely available squad, there is only the sole fitness worry for the Blackburn Rovers gaffer John Eustace to contend with. Arnór Sigurdsson (unknown injury) won’t be in action.

💭 Prediction

When taking all factors into account, Blackburn Rovers are capable enough to find the back of the net against this Sunderland team, but that isn’t expected to prevent them from conceding a couple at the other end.

We reckon that it will be a very close game with a 2-1 winning score for Sunderland at the end of this one. It really should be an interesting one.

Our expert partners are tipping over 1.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Victor Martins, 13:05 01/04/2024