Sunderland are flying at 5th, while Bristol City are loitering 8 points behind in the league standings. Can they decrease the gap?
- Sunderland have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Bristol City have played more matches over 2,5 goals away than home.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Sunderland and Bristol City.
Sunderland form and stats
Sunderland have played 15 Championship games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 6-4-5 (wins-draws-losses). Hopes of three in a row are alive for Sunderland after consecutive victories at their own ground.
Defensively the home team are doing well, with their goalkeeper Anthony Patterson not having conceded a league goal in 211 minutes.
Sunderland are returning here after visiting Queens Park Rangers and winning with a 3-0 scoreline. Clarke (2) and O'Nien scored the goal(s). Goalkeeper Patterson got the top rating on the team in that game; 8.1 out of ten. Patterson saved a penalty and topped it up with a clean sheet.
Before that, Sunderland had a home game versus Reading which ended with a victory 1-0.The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Sunderland have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 8 games) they have won 5 times, drawn 3 and lost 0.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Sunderland as they are travelling to their away game against Rotherham United in the Championship. That match is three days after this one.
The Sunderland fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 20 in 15 matches. 16 goals have been conceded.
Bristol City form and stats
As the visiting team in Championship matches, Bristol City have produced an overall stat of 4-5-5 so far.
Bristol delivered a 1-1 draw playing at home against Wigan Athletic (placed 22nd) in their previous game. Atkinson, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 8.1. Atkinson scored one goal and won 14 of 16 duels.
That result followed a home victory 1-0 versus Norwich City.We have checked recent matches where Bristol City have had similar odds to win. Win-draw-lose statistics from those 13 games were 3 victories, 4 draws and 6 defeats.
Few goals the story here? 12 of this side's latest 16 league rounds have had two goals or less.
Scoring goals is the main ingredient in creating success in football, and not only at home. So far Bristol City have scored 20 goals in 14 league games away. As for defending, Bristol rarely keep clean sheets as they have conceded 22 goals from these away matches. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 2 of these goals has been conceded in their last three away matches.
Head 2 Head
Bristol City - Sunderland 2-3 was the story when these teams last played each other, also in this season. Head-to-head statistics (for the last three meetings): Sunderland won one game, one match ended with a tie and Bristol City have one win. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: three / zero.
Top Goalscorers
  R. Stewart 10 goals |   N. Wells 9 goals |  A. Traoré 7 goals |
Sunderland missing players
Bristol City missing players
| Sunderland | Bristol City | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 31 | 15 | 6 | Played | P | 4 | 14 | 31 |
| 13 | 6 | 1 | Won | W | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 9 | 4 | 2 | Drew | D | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | 5 | 3 | Lost | L | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 46 | 20 | 4 | Scored | S | 5 | 20 | 41 |
| 33 | 16 | 7 | Conceded | C | 5 | 22 | 40 |
| 94% | 87% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 75% | 93% | 90% |
| 77% | 67% | 50% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 75% | 93% | 84% |
| 52% | 53% | 33% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 57% | 45% |
| 19% | 20% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 29% | 19% |
| 10% | 7% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 25% | 21% | 16% |
| 55% | 47% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 75% | 71% | 61% |
| 32% | 40% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 14% | 26% |
| 19% | 27% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 21% | 23% |
| 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.3 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4 | 4.6 | 5.2 |
| 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6 | 6.4 | 5.8 |
| 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11.3 | 12.9 | 12.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.2 | 8.4 | 9.6 |
| 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| 40% | 33% | 19% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 49% | 41% |
| 12.1 | 11.9 | 11.7 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 14.5 | 14.1 | 11.8 |
| 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.8 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.4 |
- Bristol City have played more matches over 2,5 goals away than home.
- Sunderland have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Burnley | 31 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 62 | 27 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 14 | 35 | 69 |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 31 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 52 | 27 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 25 | 61 |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 53 | 37 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 30 | 25 | 16 | 54 |
| 4 | Luton Town | 31 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 39 | 31 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 50 |
| 5 | Sunderland | 31 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 46 | 33 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 17 | 13 | 48 |
| 6 | Watford | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 14 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 47 |
| 7 | Millwall | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 36 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 6 | 46 |
| 8 | Blackburn Rovers | 31 | 14 | 4 | 13 | 33 | 37 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 24 | -4 | 46 |
| 9 | Norwich City | 31 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 43 | 36 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 45 |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 31 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 45 |
| 11 | Coventry City | 31 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 0 | 42 |
| 12 | Swansea City | 31 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 45 | 46 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 25 | -1 | 42 |
| 13 | Hull City | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 47 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 24 | -9 | 41 |
| 14 | Preston North End | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 28 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 16 | -9 | 41 |
| 15 | Reading | 31 | 12 | 5 | 14 | 35 | 46 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 17 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 29 | -11 | 41 |
| 16 | Bristol City | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 41 | 40 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 22 | 1 | 40 |
| 17 | Queens Park Rangers | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 33 | 43 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 20 | -10 | 39 |
| 18 | Birmingham City | 31 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 40 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 20 | -4 | 38 |
| 19 | Stoke City | 31 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 38 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 20 | -2 | 37 |
| 20 | Rotherham United | 31 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 34 | 42 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 17 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 25 | -8 | 33 |
| 21 | Cardiff City | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 36 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 20 | -12 | 32 |
| 22 | Wigan Athletic | 31 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 50 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 20 | -21 | 30 |
| 23 | Huddersfield Town | 31 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 28 | 42 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 27 | -14 | 28 |
| 24 | Blackpool | 31 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 47 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 21 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 26 | -16 | 28 |
