Sunderland vs Stoke City Predictions

• Stoke won the reverse of this fixture 1-0 in December
• Stoke’s last three matches have produced just one goal
• Sunderland have won only two of their last four fixtures

Sunderland could be vulnerable against Potters

With automatic promotion to the Premier League well within reach, Sunderland arguably have bigger fish to fry than the FA Cup this season and punters should not rush to back the Black Cats against Stoke in the third round.

These sides met in their final match of 2024 and Stoke prevailed 1-0 in a cagey contest thanks to Tom Cannon’s 92nd-minute strike.

Sunderland generated 22 shots in that game, steering seven of them on target, but were not prolific enough up top.

It was a similar situation when they hosted struggling Portsmouth in the league recently, as they won the shot count 24-6 and had an extra man for more than 20 minutes but could only win 1-0.

Stoke can keep things tight at Stadium of Light

Goals have also been in short supply in matches involving Stoke, who have started 2025 with back-to-back 0-0 draws against Burnley and Plymouth, and under 2.5 goals could be the best betting approach.

Under 2.5 goals has been a winner in each of Stoke’s last five matches with at least one team failing to find the net in each of those contests.

This is unlikely to be a classic and in the correct score betting, 1-1 could be the way to go given that the Potters have racked up nine draws in the Championship this term.