Sunderland v Doncaster Rovers: match prediction, odds and best bet

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Sunderland v Doncaster in Sky Bet League One.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football & Main Event, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

Sunderland
2pts 10-11 bet365

Team news

Sunderland
Bailey Wright has joined the Black Cats from Bristol City until the end of the season. Tom Flanagan has recovered from a knock.

Doncaster Rovers
Kieran Sadlier is Rovers’ only new injury after he broke his nose in the defeat to Coventry.

Match preview

Suddenly, all is well again at The Stadium of Light. It won’t last, it never does.

But right now there’s a buzz at Sunderland not witnessed for many a long month and they look worth backing to win games.

Doncaster, themselves modest improvers over recent weeks, are the next visitors to Wearside where finally Sunderland are playing like a team who went to post this season as title favourites.

It took Phil Parkinson a while to get his messages across and his methods in place after replacing Jack Ross in October – the Black Cats had gone seven games without a win before Christmas.

But a switch to a 3-4-3 formation, consistency in team selection and a new-found belief from players and fans have now seen them go seven without defeat. They have won four of their last five games, a sequence that started with a 2-1 win at Doncaster, though the pick of their more recent results was surely the 4-0 drubbing of Wycombe.

The fact that that battering took place at home, where they have struggled to break down sides since their relegation 18 months ago, is further proof that they have at last got to grips with the rigours of the third tier.

Doncaster are also finding their feet, though their prospects would look that much brighter if they had a goalscorer. Current line-leader Niall Ennis has bagged just one goal since August.

Defensively they have tightened up enormously – they have had four wins to nil in their last six – but they seriously struggled to find a way past Coventry at home last Saturday, going down 1-0. And Sunderland set themselves up almost identically to Cov.

Doncaster are tenth in the table, though arguably in a false position given that they have played six more home games than away which means a seriously demanding run-in.

Key stat

Sunderland have scored 18 first-half goals at home, seven more than any other side in the division.

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