Sunderland vs Derby predictions: Black Cats to bounce back

– Sunderland are second, a point behind leaders West Brom
– Derby are 13th in the Championship
– Recommended bet: Sunderland to win

After suffering a late defeat at Watford, Sunderland should bounce back by winning at home to Derby on Tuesday evening.

The Black Cats are still very much in the early-season promotion picture as they are a point behind leaders West Brom after winning five of their first seven matches.

Derby, meanwhile, have won just three games, while losing the other four, to sit off the pace and it looks like being a difficult evening for the Rams in the north east.

Sunderland trio Niall Huggins, Aji Alese and Jenson Seelt remain out injured, while Eliezer Mayenda, Ahmed Abdullahi and Salis Abdul Samed are big doubts for the clash with the Rams.

The visitors have injury issues too, with Tom Barkhuizen, Liam Thompson, David Ozoh and Jake Rooney all likely to be unavailable for the trip to the Stadium Of Light.

Sunderland have won all three of their home league games this season without conceding.

Derby have lost all three of their away games in the Championship this season.

The Rams have only won two of their last 10 competitive away matches.

This is the first meeting between the two sides since Sunderland won 4-1 away at Derby in a Championship clash in March 2018.

Sunderland look very capable of mounting a promotion charge this season if the first seven games of the Championship campaign are anything to go by.

Defeats by one goal to Plymouth and Watford mean they are second, just behind leaders West Brom, but Regis Le Bris’ side have racked up five victories, which is enough early evidence to suggest they will stick around at the top.

In a division in which traditionally there is little to choose between a lot of teams, Sunderland will suffer more setbacks this term, but they should accumulate enough points, too, to be right in the mix to go up.

Derby have acquitted themselves fairly well following promotion up from the third tier and they should be good enough to stay up this season, as impressive early home wins over Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Cardiff have underlined their survival credentials.

However, away from home it has been a different story, with three defeats from three so far, so it could be a familiar tale of woe on the road for Paul Warne’s men on Tuesday.

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