Sunderland vs Peterborough Predictions

As the game went into its final quarter at Ricoh Arena on Saturday afternoon, Sunderland were on course for a second consecutive win, though Coventry had other ideas as they pegged the Black Cats back. Sunderland have now won just one of their last five league matches, which means that they’re five points behind league leaders Portsmouth, so Jack Ross’ men will be hoping to regain the winning thread when they take on second place Peterborough on Tuesday evening.

At the start of the season, there was a lot of noise surrounding Sunderland; punters were expecting the Black Cats to dominate this division, though while they are lurking around the play-off places, Jack Ross’s men have failed to really stamp their authority in League One.

From an offensive point of view, they’ve done OK at times, but they’ve failed to offer anywhere near as much of a significant regular threat as several of the other teams challenging for promotion, as the fact that they rank 12^th in terms of expected goals for suggests. The side relegated from the second division last season are the second highest scorers, though a couple of high-scoring wins, where the game state really helped them out, makes them look like a better attacking side than they’ve been for the most part.

As for Peterborough, well they too are perhaps a tad fortunate to be as high as they are, though for different reasons. Defensively, Sunderland have often looked quite solid, but Posh have looked anything but. Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Blackpool was a perfect example of how Peterborough’s dodgy rear-guard lets them down.

Keeping things tight at the back is something that Peterborough have failed to do this season. Tuesday’s visitors have now conceded at least once in each of their last six, while they’ve conceded two or more in each of their last four. It’s not just goals that Posh are conceding, but they’re giving away plenty of chances, as the fact that they rank in a lowly 18^th position in terms of expected goals against suggests. Evans’ men have conceded an average of 1.9 expected goals per match this season.

Moreover, away from home, Posh have conceded an average of 1.94 expected goals. With this in mind, Sunderland ought to fancy themselves to do well in the final third. They may not have been as impressive as many people anticipated overall, but they have at least looked strong offensively at times on their own patch, averaging 1.56 expected goals for per match, an average that would probably be slightly higher had they not played almost an entire game against Oxford with ten men.

With the visitors conceding lots of chances, Sunderland are backed to capitalise by notching at least twice in front of their own fans.