Sunderland v Watford: Back a Black Cats win with both teams netting at 23/10 | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Ryan Deeney previews Sunderland v Watford

Ryan Deeney takes a look into EFL Championship action at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland host Watford...

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Nothing lucky about Black Cats rise

Sunderland picked up an important win on Monday night as they continue their charge towards promotion back to the Premier League.

The Black Cats are arguably the surprise package in the battle for promotion, Regis Le Bris and his band of youngsters taking on recent Premier League outfits Leeds United, Burnley and Sheffield United and holding their own having lost just five of their 30 league matches.

Consistency has been important in their push - 10 players have played more than 75% of available minutes this season to date. It also speaks to their impressive home form with the Black Cats yet to lose in front of their own supporters in the league.

And so they enter this one having lost just one of their last 12, winning seven, and expecting to add another three points to push themselves into third ahead of the rest of the weekend's league fixtures.

Another Hornets manager about to be stung

Their visitors are Watford, who find themselves in another weird spot amid inconsistent form, the constant churn of playing staff and, in shocking news, talk around the future of their manager.

It all started so well. Watford were 7th on 15th December having won half of their opening 20 league matches and gone on an extended unbeaten run at home. Since then, they have collected 7 points from 10 matches, with those points achieved against sides currently 19th or lower in the table.

Chaos has since reigned with reports suggesting CEO Scott Duxbury has intervened to save Tom Cleverley's job. However, first team coach Paul Robinson departed during this period, replaced by the returning Alberto Garrido.

If there is a positive to take, it's that Watford have been scoring goals. And their defensive numbers away from home have improved slightly. The negative is that they are still conceding chances and conceding goals (29 in 15 on the road), seeing both teams score in 11 of their last 13 matches in all competitions, losing 7 of those matches in both teams have scored.

Contrast that with Sunderland, who have seen both sides scored in nine of their last 13 in the league, winning five, and I'm comfortable backing the hosts to pick up another win and pile more misery on Cleverley, who appears to be running out of time.

Sunderland have found their striker

I'm expecting both teams to score and Sunderland to win, so who could make the difference for Sunderland? It's hard to look past Wilson Isidor.

The 24-year-old Frenchman has scored in five of his last eight starts and each of his last three at home. Despite this form, he is only just beginning to catch up with his xG total for the season with ten goals from 10.6xG. The striker has managed a shot on target in his last eight matches and at least two shots at goal in 20 of his 24 league starts.

Watford have undergone more change defensively. Daniel Bachmann is absent due to injury, Ryan Porteus has departed on loan and Francisco Sierralta didn't start last time out. The team moved to a back four against Norwich but came out second best once more.

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