Sunderland vs Bristol City Prediction: The Robins to grab the victory

Sunderland fans will be wanting this season to come to an end quickly after their 5-1 hammering at the hands of Blackburn Rovers at the Stadium of Light on Monday. It shows just how unforgiving the Championship is as the Black Cats were in a great position to push for the play-offs again this year under Tony Mowbray earlier in the season before sacking him for Michael Beale.

He too was let go and Mike Dodds is in interim charge until the club source a new figurehead for next season. The Black Cats welcome Bristol City on Saturday (15:00) hoping to bounce back from Monday's horror show, but we don't think things are going to get better right away, as our Sunderland vs Bristol City predictions suggest.

Match Odds

Sunderland are 7/5 to bounce back with a win here, or an implied chance of 41.7%. Bristol City are valued at 11/5 to take the three points, giving them a 31.3% chance. The draw can be backed at 21/10 which gives a probability of 32.3%.

Both teams to score is on offer at 5/6 and over 2.5 goals is 6/5.

Team News

Some good news for Sunderland fans despite the loss on Monday was the fact that star player Jack Clarke returned to the bench after an injury that had kept him out for several weeks. He could be in line to return to the starting XI this weekend.

Jobe Bellingham has been filling in up top in recent weeks due to the absence of Ukrainian forward Nazariy Rusyn, and he is expected to continue there again on Saturday. But after Monday's poor display, Dodds could make several alterations to the team for the visit of the Robins.

Bristol City will be hoping that attacker Scott Twine can feature at the weekend, after he picked up a knock in the win over Plymouth Argyle last time out. Taylor Garnder-Hickman is ruled out but Liam Manning should have most of his squad to choose from.

Bristol City to win @ 11/5

The Robins have been on a good run of late, winning three of their last four - with their scalps including Plymouth, Leicester City and Swansea City. They will be looking forward to coming up against a downbeat Sunderland side that has won just one of their last eight.

Confidence will be low among the Black Cats and the supporters are eager for this season to end so the Robins could profit from a calm atmosphere in the early stages to grab a goal and set themselves up for another victory.

Both teams to score - Yes @ 5/6

We are expecting goals at both ends in this one, however. And the main reason we're confident in this landing is because Sunderland have their best player back in Clarke. The former Tottenham Hotspur winger has netted 15 goals this season and his role in the Black Cats' side cannot be overstated.

He makes such an impact when he is involved and his return could spark a more positive end of the season for the Mackems supporters. It is also worth noting that both teams to score has landed in four of the last five meetings between these two sides.