Sunderland started this season as one of the favourites to win promotion from League One to the Championship after a solid campaign in the third tier of English football last season.
However, the Black Cats have started the new League One campaign with two draws and one victory. The team from the north east will be hoping to build up some momentum when they visit the north west to face Rochdale on Tuesday night.
Rochdale have an identical record to the visitors in the third tier this season. Dale have drawn their last two league games against Doncaster Rovers and Shrewsbury Town after an evening weekend win over Tranmere Rovers.
Although the home sides recent league form has been inconsistent, they have been hard to beat in the third tier, losing just one of their last seven league games.
Their home form was highly inconsistent last season. However, a record of three wins from their last five league games at the Crown Oil Arena is not the worst in the world.
Sunderland will be hoping to build on a 2-1 win over Portsmouth last time out. The win ended a four-game winless run in the league for Jack Ross’ team dating back to last season.
It is interesting to note that both teams have scored in eight of Sunderland’s last ten league outings, although not all of their games have been high-scoring in that spell.
One facet of their game the Black Cats will need to improve upon if they are to mount a successful promotion challenge is their away form. The visitors have failed to win in six games on their travels in League One, picking three draws and suffering three defeats.
Forebet predicts that the Black Cats will end that winless run on their travels by recording a victory in a high-scoring encounter.