Burnley vs Sunderland Predictions

• Burnley are unbeaten at Turf Moor in the Championship.
• Sunderland have won just one of their last seven away.
• The Clarets have only conceded two goals across their last nine home games.

Promotion rivals clash on Friday

Two of the Championship’s automatic promotion contenders meet at Turf Moor on Friday night as Burnley take on Sunderland.

A win for the hosts would see them move to the top of the table, temporarily at least, while a victory for Sunderland would see them leapfrog their hosts and move them level on 53 points with pacesetters Leeds.

The Black Cats won 1-0 when these sides met in the reverse fixture in August but with home advantage I’m expecting the Clarets to even the score this week.

These two teams are the only sides left in the Championship with unbeaten home records and Burnley can keep their intact by picking up a win.

Sunderland’s away form has dipped of late as they have just one win in their last seven trips, losing two of their last four. The Wearside outfit have also struggled for goals on the road – drawing blanks in four of those seven away games – and with Burnley tough to break down in East Lancashire it could be a frustrating 90 minutes for the visitors.

The Clarets have won three of their last six at home and have dominated in the games they’ve drawn, with the exception of a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough in what was a fairly even contest.

A home win looks a strong play for our main bet here when taking the prices into consideration but it could be a low scoring affair and a 1-0 win for the Clarets is my correct score prediction.

Sunderland have drawn blanks in four of their last seven trips and Burnley have conceded just four goals in 12 games at home all season, keeping clean sheets in seven of their last nine. However, Scott Parker’s side are only averaging 1.25 goals-per-game at home themselves so they may settle for a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a key rival in the battle for a place in the Premier League.