Bristol City vs Sunderland prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-15 15:00.
After yet another frantic midweek round of Championship action, Bristol City slumped to a fourth winless game (D1, L3) courtesy of a 2-1 defeat against Blackburn, a result which left them languishing in the bottom-half. New boss Liam Manning still has just one win across his opening six games at the club, which perhaps doesn’t tell the whole story as the Robins have outperformed their opponents in terms of xG in all but one of those games.
Returning home may prove fruitful for wasteful Bristol City then, who have won three of their last five games here and haven’t played out a stalemate at this venue across their last seven outings (W4, L3). A visit from play-off hopefuls Sunderland seems more likely to end in defeat though, as the Robins are winless in all of their league games at any venue against sides in ninth spot or above ahead of the round (D3, L5).
It was another cracking night for Sunderland caretaker manager Mike Dodds, who extended his 100% winning record during his current stint at the helm with a 1-0 win against promotion-chasing Leeds. No matter who takes the managerial reins for this clash, the signs are good for Sunderland at present, as they enter this match in sixth place and with four straight unbeaten trips to Ashton Gate under their belt (W2, D2).
That psychological edge may be just what the visitors need as they attempt to end a lacklustre five-game winless run of away league games (D2, L3), with three of the last four games during that sequence seeing the Black Cats fail to score. Just 12 of Sunderland’s 33-point haul (36%) has been picked up on the road so far (W3, D3, L4), an area which needs to be addressed as their potential promotion push continues over the festive period.
Players to watch: Bristol City’s Mark Sykes ended his three-game scoring drought in midweek, though that also ended his run of eight straight winning scoring appearances. Whilst his brother was busy assisting the winner for Real Madrid in the Champions League, Jobe Bellingham netted his fourth league goal for Sunderland against Leeds, all of which came in victories.
Hot stat: Sunderland’s clean sheet in midweek was only their second shutout across the last 11 games.