Sunderland will have to be at their best this weekend when Norwich City arrive at the Stadium of Light, with the Canaries offering one particular problem.
Last weekend, Sunderland pulled off a brilliant comeback to defeat Swansea City 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium and keep their good run going.
Regis Le Bris’ side are now unbeaten in three and keeping pace with the top teams in the Championship as we approach the halfway stage of the season.
We know Sunderland need to start strong against Norwich to exploit any weakness in Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side, but they should have enough to get all three points this weekend.
Norwich’s attack could cause issues, but Sunderland will win
Offering their score predictions for the weekend ahead on the Championship Check-In show, Benjamin Bloom and Sam Parkin suggested Sunderland can get the win against the Canaries, but insisted they have to fear Norwich’s attacking options.
Sam Parkin said: “It’s just a little bit of inconsistency for Norwich. They had a couple of results when they were patched up that caught the eye and it looked like they’d come through the difficult period with a good points return.
“They’ll be a problem for Sunderland here, and probably score. But I’d go score draw, or Sunderland to take it, 2-1.”
Bloom also initially picked a 2-1 win for the Black Cats, before changing his mind slightly, adding: “You fancy Norwich to score, but I think Sunderland are coming out of the woods, they got a big win against Swansea.
“Against my better judgement, as Norwich have good attacking output, I’ll go 1-0 to Sunderland.”
Sunderland have to keep unbeaten home record in tact
Sunderland are unbeaten at home all season, and they’ll fancy their chances of maintaining that record against an inconsistent and unpredictable Norwich side on Saturday.
We know Norwich struggle away from home, and while Borja Sainz will have to be watched closely, Sunderland should have enough to grind out another win and keep up the pressure at the top of the table.
The truth is, they simply have to win this game if they want to stay in the title race, as Sheffield United and Leeds United show no signs of letting up.