Sunderland vs Derby Prediction & Betting Tips (1 October)

Sunderland have been cooking with gas on their own patch of late, recording 10 consecutive home victories in the Championship, one of which was a success against Derby in their last H2H meeting. Speaking of the visitors, they have not been particularly strong on their travels of late, suffering 10 defeats in 18 trips, so this test is likely to prove too severe.

Derby ended the previous campaign with a bang, but they have not been the same swashbuckling side so far this season, as each of their last nine games has produced three goals or fewer. This has also been the case in 16 of the most recent 18 Sunderland home matches at this level, including in 10 in a row of late, so under 3.5 goals are expected here.

Derby have been involved in some pretty entertaining encounters recently, with seven of their previous eight top-flight matches producing goals at both ends of the pitch. Given that eight of the last ten Sunderland games at this level have followed the same pattern, it would come as a bit of a surprise were either keeper to emerge from this contest with a clean sheet.