Sunderland vs Burnley Prediction: Clarets to come out on top

Sunderland take on Burnley at the Stadium of Light in the Championship on Saturday (15:00), with both sides having won their opening two fixtures. The Black Cats turned up the heat last weekend as they recorded a surprising 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, while Burnley have been free-scoring so far this term.

Below you will find my Sunderland vs Burnley prediction, which also includes match odds and team news.

Sunderland vs Burnley Odds

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Sunderland are 2/1 to come out on top here, giving them an implied probability of 33.3%. Burnley are valued at 11/8, which gives them a 42.1% chance of victory. The draw is available at 23/10 (30.3%).

Both teams to score is priced at 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at 5/6.

Football Odds

Team News

Sunderland's star man looks to be on his way to Ipswich Town, which will come as a crushing blow for the Black Cats, but this should see Adil Aouchiche operate on the left side of the attack in his place.

Apart from that, boss Regis Le Bris could go with the same XI that hammered Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 last week, meaning that the likes of Romaine Mundle and Nazariy Rusyn will have to settle for spots on the bench again.

Burnley signed Bashir Humphreys from Chelsea in midweek, and he looks like he is going to be the replacement for Dara O'Shea, who looks set for a return to the Premier League in the final week of the window.

The Clarets lost Sander Berge to Fulham, but the Norwegian hadn't been included in the last squad, so he won't be seen as a great loss. Scott Parker has no fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead of the weekend.

Burnley to win @ 11/8

This should be a cracking game as you have two teams that have taken maximum points from their first two outings. Sunderland started with a strong away win at Cardiff before their surprising thrashing of Wednesday, while Burnley hammered both Luton Town and Cardiff.

With Clarke seemingly on his way out, I think his absence will have a huge impact on the Sunderland dressing room this weekend because most of their positive attacking play went through him. And in a game where they are facing one of the promotion favourites who have scored nine times already, it is going to be a very tough game for them.

That is why I think Burnley will come out on top. Yes, they are dealing with player exits, but none as impactful as what Clarke's exit will do to the hosts. His influence to the team was invaluable, while Burnley possess several players who can step up in any given game.

The Black Cats may still yet put up an impressive fight, but I expect the Clarets to continue their winning start to the season.

Luke O'Nien to receive a card @ 11/5

Sunderland's versatile defender Luke O'Nien is never one to shy away from a tackle and he loves an opportunity to demonstrate his aggression in both ground and aerial duels.

O'Nien has had a very strong start to the Championship season with two goals and one assist, and from centre-half, that is very impressive. Which is why I think we could be about to see the more reckless parts of his game on Saturday.

He is a frequent name in the officials' book when it comes to bookings, having picked up 11 and 12 respectively in his last two campaigns in the second tier. And for the first two weeks of the season, Sunderland haven't had too much to deal with defensively, but this will change against Burnley given their prolific start.

Against the likes of Lyle Foster, Luca Koleosho, Josh Brownhill and Vitinho, O'Nien is going to have his work cut out for him, and I think that he will be drawn into a lot of challenges in this match. That is why I think it might be sensible to back him to receive a card.

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