2024-25 Sky Bet Championship: Week Six – Saturday

Sunderland entertain Middlesbrough at Stadium of Light in the Tees-Wear derby.

Victory could put Sunderland back on top for a few hours at minimum, whilst Boro can go fourth if Watford fail to win elsewhere ahead of the mid-afternoon fixtures.

 

Team News

Alan Browne is ruled out for Sunderland with a knee injury.

Dan Ballard (foot) is available but Salis Abdul Samed (muscle), Ahmed Abdullahi (groin), Jenson Seelt, Niall Huggins (both knee) and Aji Alese (ankle) remain absent.

Middlesbrough could welcome Jonny Howson and Rav Van den Berg back from leg muscle injuries.

Darragh Lenihan, Dael Fry (both fitness) and Marcus Forss (hamstring) are unlikely to feature.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Sunderland host Middlesbrough at Stadium of Light on Saturday 21 September at 12:30pm BST, live on Sky Sports Football in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Sunderland have won one of their last five meetings against Middlesbrough (W1, D2, L2).
• Boro have won two of their last six visits to Sunderland (W2, D1, L3).
• Both teams have scored in just one of their last four meetings, which came last season in a 1-1 draw on Teesside.
• Sunderland scored five goals in two league matches at home this season without conceding (W2).
• Luke Ayling has made more progressive carries than any other Boro player this season (14).

 

Prediction

After suffering a first league loss of the season at Plymouth where they were the better team for much of the opening 50-odd minutes, Sunderland just need to regroup and come out with the same quality but with less mistakes.

Boro meanwhile were pretty wasteful in their 1-1 draw against Preston which was typical of their inconsistent start to the season, yet they certainly have the quality to score with just one blank in their first five league games.

Sunderland though have kept clean sheets at home so far this season but I do see that ending here, especially if this is as competitive as many expect given the talent within both teams and a draw would be a solid outcome.

Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 Middlesbrough

Result: Sunderland 1-0 Middlesbrough