Sunderland vs Middlesbrough prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-10-06 11:30.
Fans of Sunderland may not see Middlesbrough as their ultimate rivals, but the prickly atmosphere at Tees-Wear derbies is always one befitting of a bonafide rivalry, especially when Newcastle are busy mixing it with Europe’s elite! Having played for and managed Boro, current Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray is a proud Teessider, further illustrating the deep links throughout the hotbed of football that is the North East of England.
Mowbray’s Black Cats have outdone Middlesbrough so far this season with their strong league start (W6, D1, L3), igniting hopes of a Premier League return. That form was bookended by a 2-0 victory over Watford in midweek, with the focus now swiftly turning to avenging a 1-0 defeat against Cardiff in their latest home outing.
It was none other than Cardiff that Middlesbrough defeated in midweek, with that 2-0 victory taking their competitive winning streak to four games, with Mackem-born Sam Greenwood making his full debut to great effect in that game! Michael Carrick has managed to transform his side’s fortunes in recent weeks, as they had failed to win any of their first seven league matches in what was their worst ever start to a league season outside the top-flight.
Sunderland hold the edge across the 151 previous competitive meetings between the sides (W62, D38, L51), and the Black Cats ended Boro’s seven-game unbeaten run in this fixture (W6, D1) with a 2-0 win in the most recent edition. A typically reduced sold-out allocation of Boro fans will watch on as they try to bounce back in this much-anticipated game, and a return of four unbeaten games across their last five competitive away outings suggests they’ll give it a good go.
Players to watch: Sunderland’s Jack Clarke sits joint-top of the Championship scoring charts with seven goals ahead of this round, yet just one of those strikes came at the Stadium of Light. As for Boro, local lad Josh Coburn justified Carrick’s decision to keep him at the club this summer when ending his club’s nine-game winless run of away league games with the winner at Watford in their latest trip.
Hot stat: Both sides scored in just one of the last six Tees-Wear derbies, with five of six producing under 2.5 match goals.