David Prutton offers score prediction for Sunderland vs Stoke City as two ‘struggling teams’ clash

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Sunderland head into the weekend on the back of six games without a win, and they’ll need to change that against Stoke City.

That highly impressive start to the season that saw Sunderland sit at the top of the Championship table has made way for a more frustrating and sluggish run of late.

Regis Le Bris will no doubt be desperate to get back on track as soon as possible, but the Sunderland manager has insisted the recent ‘struggle’ is nothing to be worried about.

The Black Cats come up against a Stoke City side ten places and 12 points behind them in the table right now, but as we know, anyone can beat anyone in the Championship.

• READ MORE: Regis Le Bris has made Sunderland ‘much better than we’ve ever been’ at one key thing, Dave Jones says

David Prutton tips Sunderland to get back to winning ways vs Stoke City

Discussing the upcoming round of Championship fixtures on the Essential EFL podcast, Simeon Gholam and David Prutton dissected Sunderland’s poor form and attempted to determine which of these two teams can finally get the win they crave.

Prutton said: “I mean, given the pace Sunderland set, let’s not ring any alarm bells, because I thought they were outperforming expectations. But that winless run of six games [is a concern]. They come up against a Stoke side, who obviously made a managerial change, but has it affected much? I wouldn’t say it has massively.

“Sunderland are not hitting top gear yet. Lots of nil-nils in there, low-scoring games… Two teams struggling to get back in the saddle of horses running around in circles.”

Gholam offers some perspective for Sunderland fans, reiterating, “We have to remember Sunderland are fourth in the table. You can feel the nerves settling into the fans, but if you offered this to them at the start of the season, they’d have ripped your hand off.”

When pressed on his prediction for the scoreline, Prutton suggests one side can end their winless run, with a tight “2-1 Sunderland” win on the cards.

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Sunderland may have to find a way to win ugly against Stoke

This run of form for Sunderland may be frustrating, but in reality, they have been so close to getting a win in each of the last six games and they now just need to find that extra edge, the next level of their performance and game management, to get over the line.

Among the things we know about Stoke City ahead of the Sunderland game, it’s clear the Potters are a resilient and very stubborn team who are hard to break down.

Sunderland’s lack of a goal threat at the moment is a problem, and Wilson Isidor will have to be at his best to break his duck this weekend. But, it’s not just down to him, and Sunderland will need to ensure they dominate possession and break the lines quickly to catch Stoke out.

We’ve seen Sunderland play some really nice football this season, but right now, none of that matters. They have to win against Stoke at all costs, even if it means taking a more pragmatic, gritty approach to grinding out the result.