Sunderland host Derby County in the Championship on Tuesday night.
Sunderland return to the Stadium of Light after a tough away outing last weekend, where Regis Le Bris watched his side fall to a 2-1 defeat v Watford.
The loss was only Sunderland’s second of the season. But it’s their second-successive away defeat and so Le Bris and his first-team players will be glad to be back on Wearside for this one.
Derby County suffered their first home defeat of the Championship season last weekend, losing 3-2 to Norwich City, having now lost their last two in the league.
Paul Warne’s side now sit in 13th place of the Championship table compared to Sunderland in 2nd, and one point behind leaders West Brom.
Last time Sunderland and Derby County met at the Stadium of Light was way back in 2017; a 1-1 draw on the opening day of the 2017/18 Championship campaign, with Lewis Grabban on the scoresheet for the Black Cats.
Sunderland v Derby County score prediction
Speaking on the Championship Check-In podcast ahead of the weekend, EFL pundit Sam Parkin gave his score prediction for the game between Sunderland and Derby County.
And despite the Black Cats having lost two of their last three now, and despite the Rams having been in decent form overall this season, Parkin has predicted a home win.
Parkin said: “So that was a first home defeat, wasn’t it, for Derby, and Sunderland back-to-back away defeats, but probably would maybe feel they deserved something from the game at Watford.
“Just that final little bit of quality maybe deserted them. I’ll go for them to get back to winning ways, three goals to one.”
Sunderland last beat Derby County the last time they played them in 2018, winning 4-1 at Pride Park.
But the last time Sunderland beat the Rams on Wearside was almost 20 years ago in 2007, with Anthony Stokes scoring the only goal in what was a Premier League fixture at the time.
Sunderland will be boosted by the return of Alan Browne on Tuesday night, and he could well come into the XI following Dan Neil’s poor performance v Watford.
Sunderland must make the Stadium of Light a fortress
It’s becoming clear that playing away from home is an issue for Sunderland, and how Le Bris gets around that remains to be seen.
It’s still early doors for him and his Sunderland side, but with back-to-back defeats on the road, the Black Cats really need to pick up wins at home, and make the Stadium of Light a real fortress in the Championship.
Derby County come into this game in poor form. They’ll be worried about plummeting down the table after a strong start and so Sunderland need to take advantage of that.
Expect Warne’s side to bring a very cagey and dogged game to Sunderland, for whom this will be a different kind of test under Le Bris.