Plymouth vs Sunderland predictions: No luck required for Black Cats
- Plymouth are yet to win in the league under Wayne Rooney
- Sunderland have started the league season with four straight wins
- Recommended bet: Half Time/Full Time - Sunderland-Sunderland
Sunderland have made a perfect start to the new Championship season and the league leaders will be looking to make it five wins from five when they head to Home Park to take on Wayne Rooney's Plymouth on Saturday.
It has certainly been a dream opening to life in the Blacks Cats dugout for Regis Le Bris, who has overseen victories over Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Portsmouth to leave his side sitting top of the pile with a maximum return of 12 points from four games.
Things have not been going so smoothly for Rooney at Plymouth, as the former Manchester United and England captain has seen his side go winless in their opening four league fixtures, picking up just two draws along the way.
Team news
Plymouth will once again have to do without teenage forward Freddie Issaka for this game, as he serves the final match of his three-game ban following his sending off against QPR.
As for Sunderland, they remain without injured defenders Aji Alese (ankle) and Jenson Seelt (knee), but Le Bris is unlikely to tinker too heavily with a winning line-up.
The stats
After winning just two of their final 15 Championship matches of last season, Sunderland have begun the new campaign with four successive league victories.
The Black Cats also boast the meanest defence in the division, conceding only once to date, while they have fired home 10 goals at the other end, the joint-best in the second tier alongside Burnley.
In all four of Sunderland's league games to date they have been leading at half-time and gone on to win the match.
Plymouth have taken just two points from their opening four league fixtures under Rooney, while their only win in six matches with the 38-year-old at the helm came against League Two Cheltenham in the Carabao Cup.
Sunderland claimed a 3-1 victory when these two sides most recently met at the Stadium of Light in February, but the last encounter at Home Park ended in a 2-0 victory for Plymouth in November 2023.
Prediction
After finishing a disappointing 16th last season, Sunderland appear a team reborn under Le Bris, as they are not only winning matches, but doing so convincingly.
Three of their four league wins to date have been by at least a two-goal margin, while they have been ahead at half-time in all of those games.
Plymouth, meanwhile, are trying to find their feet under Rooney, with the jury very much still out on Manchester United's all-time leading scorer following his unsuccessful spell in charge of Birmingham last season.
A morale-boosting win is much needed, but Plymouth are unlikely to pick that up against the league leaders, with Sunderland expected to strike early in Devon and hold out for their victory from there.
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