We hit a new year, and the Championship starts with a full list of fixtures on New Year's Day, and one of those sees Sunderland hosting Preston. Both sides will be looking to hit the ground running this year, starting on the edge of the playoffs and looking to get back in.
Sunderland Form Guidethe Michael Beale era at Sunderland is underway, but I think it'll be a few weeks before we really see improvements from them. The good news for Beale is that he doesn't need to do much, as his team are on the edge of the playoffs, they have 37 points in 7th place, which puts them one place and two points outside of the playoffs.
They've had an even festive period so far, with one win, one loss and one draw. The win was a big one, a 1-0 away victory at Hull, who are straight above them in the league. But they drew with bottom club Rotherham on Friday night, and that will have disappointed Beale. This is a chance to get straight back on track.
Preston Form GuideIt's been a terrible last few weeks for Preston, a time that has seen them slide down the league table, and although they've picked up one win in their last four, that did come against Leeds, when their opponents had their goalkeeper sent off in the first half. Even playing against 10, Preston only managed to score a late winner in that to take the game narrowly 2-1.
They're now on the outside of the playoff battle, down in 11th and four points off the playoffs. It doesn't look like getting much better sadly for them, and they were incredibly disappointing on Friday night when they lost 1-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday, a side in the relegation zone.
Match PredictionGiven the form of Preston, I am siding with Sunderland to win the game. We may not see the best of Sunderland for another few weeks under Michael Beale, but I think they have enough to win here.
