Bradford vs Sunderland Predictions

Bradford’s poor run finally ended during the week, as they overcame Wimbledon by a goal to nil away from home. With that confidence-boosting win under their belts, the Bantams will be looking to put a run together by registering another three points when they welcome Sunderland to Valley Parade.

Prior to beating AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night, Bradford had stopped the rot by drawing 0-0 against Bristol Rovers at Valley Parade last weekend, and while that performance wasn’t amazing, the Bantams did offer a good amount going forward. Their attacking efforts weren’t amazing in the week, while they certainly rode their luck at the back, though now back on their own patch, the Bantams may just be confident of continuing in an upward direction.

Even on their own patch, Bradford have struggled to keep things tight this season, so it’s not overly difficult to envisage a useful Sunderland outfit profiting in the final third. That said, the Bantams have started to do better offensively when playing at home. With someone like Jack Payne, who’s capable of pulling the strings creatively, Bradford should have little problems making things happen in the final third, and that is what they’ve started to do at home. After offering little in their first two home games, Saturday’s hosts have accumulated a respectable expected goals total of 4.3 in their last three matches at Valley Parade. Such numbers aren’t amazing, but they’re enough to suggest that the Bantams can make something happen going forward against the Black Cats, who’ve conceded at least 1.0 expected goal in all but one of their five away games.

However, keeping Sunderland at bay could easily prove to be beyond the hosts, who’ve found it very tough to defend this season. At home specifically, David Hopkin’s men have conceded a rather modest six goals, but the fact that they’ve shipped a combined total of 8.9 expected goals at home would suggest that they’ve been a tad lucky not to concede further goals.

Sunderland’s performances away from home haven’t always been excellent this season, but they’ve not exactly floundered from a goal-scoring point of view. As things stand in League One, as Sunderland sit on nine goals away from home, the Black Cats are the sixth highest scorers on the road, while their overall attacking efforts have improved in recent matches.

From a creativity point of view, the Black Cats have been a bit hit and miss, but when they’ve been on it, they’ve looked good. What’s more, with someone like Josh Maja in their ranks, who has scored eight goals in League One this season, they’re always going to offer a threat.

If we look at the recent performances of both, coupled with the fact that Bradford, who’re seeing an average of 2.8 expected goals in their home games, have generally been involved in open contests at Valley Parade this season, then ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’, a bet which has yielded a profit in three of Sunderland’s last four away matches, stands out at the prices.