Sunderland vs Southampton Prediction: Southampton will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in the championship

Sunderland will welcome Southampton at the Stadium of Light in Gameweek 5 of the English Championship. Southampton will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in the championship. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

After making it to the semi-finals of the playoffs last season, Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray expected his team to have another strong campaign and challenge for promotion. However, their start to the season has not gone as planned, with two consecutive defeats leaving them in 18th place. Nonetheless, a recent comeback victory against Rotherham United and a goalless draw against Coventry City have surely boosted morale at the Stadium of Light. Coventry has shown signs of returning to their strong form from the 2022-23 season, so keeping a clean sheet against them can only increase confidence within the Sunderland squad. Yet, they still face a tough match against Southampton, a recently-relegated Premier League team. Mowbray is aware that his players must continue to perform at a high level if they hope to compete with Southampton.

Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Cirkin; Neil, Ekwah; Ba, Dack, Clarke; Bellingham

Since being relegated to the second tier, Southampton has lacked convincing performances. They have not won by more than one goal and have already conceded seven times in only four league games. However, despite these shortcomings, Russell Martin's team has managed to accumulate 10 points out of a possible 12. They have won three times with a 2-1 scoreline and have also won twice away from St Mary's stadium. The team has developed a tendency to score late goals, although the decisive goal in their previous game against Queens Park Rangers came in the 64th minute. Martin will be hoping for clean sheets in the upcoming matches, as Southampton has not yet reached the level of teams like Leicester City. However, their main focus will naturally be on earning as many points as possible, considering the ongoing transition period for the club.

Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Holgate, Manning; Alcaraz, Charles, S.Armstrong; Fraser, A.Armstrong, Edozie

With Sunderland appearing to gain confidence, this match has the potential to be more closely contested than current rankings suggest. However, it is important to acknowledge Southampton's strong scoring ability, especially in the late stages of the game. As a result, we predict a close win for the away team. Expect over 2.5 goals in the game.