Sunderland vs Bristol City Prediction: Both teams are coming from victories

Sunderland will welcome Bristol City at Stadium of Light in Game Week 41 of the English Championship. Both teams are coming from victories in their recent games. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Since Tony Mowbray was sacked as head coach and Michael Beale took over at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland's season has had more highs than lows. Fans are hoping that Monday's 5-1 loss to Blackburn will be the worst they experience this campaign. Interim manager Mike Dodds criticized his team's performance as "pathetic" as they fell to goals from Ryan Hedges, Tyrhys Dolan, and two from Sammie Szmodics before Chris Rigg and Andy Moran scored for Sunderland. Despite making it to the Championship playoffs under Mowbray last season, Sunderland has struggled this season, sitting in mid-table and 13 points behind sixth-placed Norwich City. Jack Clarke has been a bright spot for Sunderland, scoring 15 goals before injuring his ankle in February. The team has a decent record of 10 home wins in 20 matches at the Stadium of Light but has struggled with nine home losses, a similar number to Rotherham United, who are facing relegation to League One.

Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Hjelde; Rigg, Neil; Roberts, Dack, Clarke; Bellingham

Bristol City had a tough stretch of four consecutive defeats that dashed their hopes of reaching the playoffs, but they have since gathered nine points from their last four Championship games, including a victory against Plymouth on Easter Monday thanks to some decisive decisions made by Liam Manning. In response to the team needing a change in personnel during the second half, Manning made three bold substitutions at halftime, one of which was bringing on Nahki Wells, who scored the winning goal in the 57th minute. The team is currently aiming for a top-12 finish in the league for the 2023-24 season and is in good form with a two-point lead over Sunderland in 13th place. Bristol City has been sharing the goal-scoring duties among their players this season, with defenders like Rob Dickie contributing five goals and striker Tommy Conway leading with seven goals. The team has had success at the Stadium of Light in recent years, including a 2-1 victory in 2017 against Sunderland.

O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, Roberts; Sykes, Knight, Williams, Pring; Mehmeti, Conway, Wells

Despite the disappointing performance against Blackburn on Easter Monday, we anticipate that the addition of Clarke and Bradley Dack to the starting lineup could lead Sunderland to victory this weekend. Bristol is looking for their third consecutive win, but we predict that their inconsistency issues will resurface at the Stadium of Light.