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Sunderland vs Scunthorpe Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

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Scunthorpe

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Sunderland vs Scunthorpe Predictions

After just about making a winning start to life in League One, the Black Cats would’ve been looking to kick forward last weekend when they visited Kenilworth Road, though a share of the spoils was all that Jack Ross’ men could manage, despite taking the lead. Now back on their own patch, Sunderland will be hoping to regain the winning thread when they face Scunthorpe on Sunday afternoon.

Despite not playing overly well on the opening day, Sunderland got the better of Charlton in front of a home crowd, but their performance last weekend wasn’t a massive upgrade. Ross’ men did look to force the issue and were responsible for some neat build-up play at times, though a real cutting edge was lacking but they were unable to push on and kill the game off once going a goal up. In time, it may turn out that a point away at Luton is a good result, and it’s probably fair to say that such a performance does at least give the Black Cats a platform from which to build, though they’ll need to do better if they’re to dominate the division as their ante-post odds suggested they would.

Scunthorpe’s start to the season has mirrored that of their opponents on Sunday. They also delivered an opening-day performance that wasn’t great, though they too came out on top. By no means did the Iron deserve to lose when counter-attacking their way to victory against Coventry a fortnight ago, but they were fortunate to win. What’s more, Nick Daws’ men didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory when drawing at home against Walsall on match-day two, despite taking the lead.

Against Walsall last time out, the Iron appeared to be lacking in creativity. They did forge a few opportunities, but clear-cut chances remained elusive for most of the game. Last season, Duane Holmes, Hakeeb Adelakun and Josh Morris provided lots of the service, though with the former two no longer at the club and with Morris just returning from injury, it could be a while until Scunthorpe start unlocking the door on a regular basis.

Given that the visitors haven’t looked amazingly creative, it’s easy to see them coming up short offensively against a Sunderland side who, despite having not done too much up front, haven’t give much away during the early weeks of the campaign.

In terms of overall quality, the hosts have the edge, while they’ve also done a good job of dictating the tempo and not allowing their opponents many scoring opportunities. Interestingly, only three teams have conceded less shots than Sunderland so far, while only three of League One’s other 23 teams have conceded less shots on target.

Add in the fact that Scunthorpe haven’t looked great going forward and it’s easy to see the hosts thriving. That said, they’ve not looked overly great in the final third either, so they shouldn’t be expected to run away with proceedings. With the visitors likely to adopt a cautious style, as they often did away from home last season, the bet that stands out is ‘Sunderland to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’.

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