- Both teams have scored in five of Sunderland’s last six at home
- Both teams have scored in 11 of Watford’s last 13 matches in all competitions
- Recommended bet: Over 2.5 goals

Sunderland twice came from behind to record a thrilling 3-2 victory over Tees-Wear rivals Middlesbrough on Monday and the Black Cats will be hoping to maintain their Championship promotion push with a home win against Watford on Saturday.

Regis Le Bris' side remain fourth in the Championship standings but they are only three points behind second-placed Burnley with an all-important game in hand.

Sunderland have suffered only four defeats in 30 league outings but one of those reverses came at Vicarage Road in September, when Tom Dele-Bashiru’s late penalty rewarded Watford with a 2-1 victory.

However, the Black Cats will have high hopes of avenging that defeat given their opponents are slipping down the table following a run of seven losses in their last 10 league assignments.

Team news

Sunderland remain without Ajibola Alese and Alan Browne as they recover from respective broken legs, while Romaine Mundle, Niall Huggins and Tom Watson are also on the sidelines.

For Watford, Vakoun Issouf Bayo is suspended following his first-half dismissal in the latest 1-0 defeat to Norwich, while Kwadwo Baah, Daniel Bachmann, Pierre Dwomoh, Rocco Vatta, Caleb Wiley and Festy Ebosele are missing through injury.

The stats

Sunderland have lost only two of their last 23 league games, stretching their unbeaten run to six with Monday’s 3-2 victory at Middlesbrough.

The Black Cats are yet to taste defeat in 14 home league games this season, winning on nine occasions and keeping seven clean sheets.

Both teams have, however, scored in eight of Sunderland’s last 12 Championship clashes.

Watford have lost seven of their last 10 league games, suffering three straight defeats against Preston, Coventry and Norwich.

The Hornets have failed to score in only one of their last 10 league matches on their travels, with both teams scoring in eight of those.

Watford have lost only three of their last 12 meetings with Sunderland, although five of those fixtures have ended in draws.

Prediction

Sunderland served up the perfect response to their 2-2 draw with struggling Plymouth by beating fierce rivals Middlesbrough 3-2 on Monday and the Black Cats go into this encounter with an out-of-sorts Watford as a short price to follow up.

The Black Cats are yet to experience a league defeat at the Stadium of Light this season but both teams have scored in five of their last six at home and Watford do pose an attacking threat.

The Hornets are on a poor run of form, having endured seven defeats in 10 league games, but only once in their last 10 road trips have they failed to score.

That includes consolation goals at top-two Leeds and Burnley and they will be hoping to complete a league double over the high-flying Black Cats after their 2-1 victory at Vicarage Road in September.

Both teams have scored in 11 of Watford’s last 13 matches in all competitions, which offers hope of a high-scoring clash taking place at the Stadium of Light.

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