Sunderland vs Plymouth Argyle Prediction: Blacks Cats can run over Pilgrims

Sunderland start this latest round of Championship action on the heels of the leaders and hoping to make the most of Saturday’s home assignment against rock-bottom Plymouth Argyle at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats edged out Derby County 1-0 in midweek while Argyle, despite being at Home Park, were hit for five by another promotion contender, Burnley.

With the Clarets facing Leeds United in a tasty Monday night offering at Turf Moor, Sunderland know a win here will close the gap on the teams above them.

Read on for my Sunderland vs Plymouth Argyle prediction, aided by the latest match odds and team news.

Sunderland vs Plymouth Argyle Odds

Hosts Sunderland are firm favourites to win at 1/4, with Plymouth Argyle as big as 11/1 following a thumping midweek loss at home to Burnley. A draw at the Stadium of Light trades at 5/1.

Plymouth shipped five goals at home on Wednesday and over 3.5 goals here can be backed at 6/4. All five midweek goals were scored by the Clarets in the opening half, with over 1.5 first half goals priced at 11/8 in this contest.

Team News

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris will have to make a late call on the availability of Ian Poveda and Jenson Seelt. Both returned to training in the build up to this game but are perhaps unlikely to be risked as starters just yet.

Romaine Mundle, Alan Browne and Tom Watson remain sidelined for the home side.

Argyle have lost defender Brendan Galloway for the rest of the season, while boss Miron Muslic is unlikely to utilise Morgan Whittaker as the club have now accepted an £8m bid from Middlesbrough for the 24-year-old. This comes after Muslic admitted Whittaker did not show up for their match with Burnley, despite being picked to play.

Conor Hazard and Kornel Szucs remain on the treatment table for Plymouth.

Sunderland to win and Over 3.5 Goals @ 7/4

Confidence in the Plymouth ranks will be low and the last thing they would have wanted after being dismantled by Burnley on Wednesday was a trip to face another promotion contender.

They make the long journey to the north east to face a Sunderland side who are safe in the knowledge that they will gain ground on the teams above them with a victory.

The Black Cats are unbeaten in 13 Championship games at home and are seeking a fourth straight win. Burnley had only scored one Championship goal in four games before facing Plymouth in midweek as they ran in five in the first half, suggesting Argyle leave a lot to be desired in defence.

The home team can make hay against a side with 60 goals leaked in the league, 13 more than anyone else heading into this round of fixtures.

Under 9.5 Corners @ 13/8

A low corner count would not come as a major shock in this contest. Plymouth have managed a total of 13 corners across their previous three Championship away games and the Pilgrims are averaging just 2.36 in their 14 away fixtures so far, a sequence of matches in which they have lost 11 times.

Sunderland, despite having nine wins and four draws on their own patch, are averaging just 5.85 corner kicks at the Stadium of Light in the league and it might be worth siding with this game to stay in single figures.

Plymouth had only one corner in the midweek loss to Burney, while Sunderland had just four at Derby.

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