Blackburn Rovers vs Sunderland Prediction: The teams are just one point away from the top six

Blackburn Rovers will welcome Sunderland at Ewood Park in Gameweek 7 of the English Championship. The teams are just one point away from the top six. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

With the revelation of budget cuts at Blackburn during the summer, it seemed probable that Jon Dahl Tomasson would depart. Nevertheless, Tomasson has continued to lead the team, consisting mostly of young players, and everyone affiliated with Blackburn is pleased with their accomplishment of obtaining 10 points from six games. Despite setbacks such as relinquishing a lead against Hull City and suffering a 3-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle, Tomasson and his squad managed to secure a 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough, keeping them on track. Sammie Szmodics' two goals, one before and one after halftime, helped the team overcome the disappointment of their heavy defeat to last season's League One champions. Scoring goals remains an area of concern, as Blackburn has only managed to find the net eight times in the league, and never more than twice in a single match. However, the team has demonstrated enough skill and faith in their coach to suggest that they can remain contenders for a playoff position for another season.

Pears; Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Pickering; Travis, Wharton; Hedges, Szmodics, Dolan; Gallagher

At the beginning of the season, Sunderland lost 2-1 to both Ipswich Town and Preston North End. Many believed this was because of their disappointment from missing out on the playoffs in the 2022-23 season. However, since then, Ipswich Town and Preston North End have performed well, currently sitting in first and third place respectively. In contrast, Sunderland has gone on a four-game undefeated streak in their other matches. Under the leadership of Tony Mowbray, the team has secured victories against Rotherham United, Southampton, and Queens Park Rangers, and managed a goalless draw against Coventry City. Notably, in their last two wins, they scored a total of eight goals. It is important to acknowledge that their 3-1 victory against QPR was aided by a red card for the opposing team. Nonetheless, Sunderland now seems to be a strong team that has the potential to compete for a top-six position once again, especially if their goals continue to come from various players in the squad.

Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Huggins; Neil, Pritchard; Ba, Bellingham, Clarke; Burstow

This upcoming match has all the elements necessary for an exciting competition, especially considering the impressive performance of the visiting team in terms of scoring goals. However, we predict that Rovers will manage to secure a win on their home ground and continue their successful bounceback from last season's letdown. Expect more than 2.5 goals in the game.