Sheffield Wednesday v Sunderland: Black Cats appeal on the Asian Handicap | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Sunderland are aiming to bounce back at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday face Sunderland at Hillsborough on Friday night and Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is backing the Black Cats to pick up a positive result in their quest for Premier League promotion.

Sheffield Wednesday v SunderlandFriday February 28, 20:00Live on Sky Sports

Rohl lays down the gauntlet for Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl says his team have to 'step up' if they're to end their torrid form against the top teams in the Championship. The Owls still harbour hopes of a top-six finish but last week's tough 4-0 loss at high-flying Burnley saw Wednesday drop down to 12th and six points shy of the play-off places ahead of Friday night's fixture.

The scoreline was cruel on the Owls, who were much the better side in the first half but could not break Burnley's resistance. Now Rohl has laid down the gauntlet ahead of Friday's encounter with Sunderland at Hillsborough, claiming Wednesday will need to put on a 'perfect game' and 'try everything' in order to overcome the promotion-chasers.

Rohl said, "If we want to beat a big team, we have to step up - we need the perfect game. We're doing well between both boxes but to win games you have to be strong in the box. We are doing many things right but it's hard and you're seeing the limit of where we are at. Friday we have the next opportunity, and I want to see a team who will try everything..."

Sunderland suffer second successive loss

Anthony Patterson's error ended Sunderland's unbeaten home record to dent their Championship promotion hopes as Hull bagged a surprise 1-0 success at the Stadium of Light last weekend. The Black Cats goalkeeper fumbled a corner into his own net to make it successive defeats for the Wearsiders for the first time under Regis le Bris' tutorship.

Sunderland failed to come up with the response with Wilson Isidor and Jobe Bellingham both missing big headed chances as the Black Cats dominated possession, fired in 17 efforts, yet managed just two shots on-target. The result leaves the high-flyers eight points adrift of the automatic promotion places and le Bris demanded an improvement post-match.

Le Bris said, "It's a shame because in these types of games silly mistakes can change things. The energy of the team was good and they tried to start the game properly but the own goal changed the dynamic. The game wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the best performance" with the Sunderland boss also confirming Dan Ballard and Enzo Le Fee picked up injuries.

Black Cats fair favourites

Sheffield Wednesday have tended to suffer in recent meetings with Sunderland. The Owls have been beaten in three of their last four league matches with the Black Cats (W1-D0-L3) as those three defeats arrived by a combined 12-0 scoreline - the hosts have also returned a concerning W2-D2-L5 when welcoming the Wearsiders to Hillsborough since 1973.

Sheff Wed 3.10 have been dogged by inconsistency and the Owls come into Friday night's fixture having posted W2-D3-L4 in their past nine Championship dates. The hosts are W3-D4-L11 against top-half teams, have W0-D0-L6 against the runaway top-four - failing to score in each - and are ranked as low as 18th in the home Expected Points (xP) ratings.

Individual errors contributed to Sunderland 2.62 being beaten in back-to-back games, though the Black Cats remain a tough nut to crack having suffered only six league losses all season. The Wearsiders are W5-D8-L3 against top-half teams, have been turned over just three times against the top-19 across the campaign and sit inside the top five for away xP.

The Asian Handicap angle

Under 2.5 Goals is trading a little short at 1.78 despite proving to be a winning selection in 56% of overall Championship contests this term, as well as 59% of Sheffield Wednesday's games at Hillsborough and 53% of Sunderland's showdowns on the road. Instead, the eye-catching price is in the Asian Handicap market where Sunderland 0.0 is available at 1.84.

backing the Black Cats here means we have a winning bet if they take all three points and the stake returned if it finishes in a draw.

The Black Cats were 4-0 winners in the reverse match-up in August and whilst their form has slowed since a scintillating start to the new season, the promotion-chasers remain a difficult to side to overcome. Sunderland were unfortunate to lose at Leeds in their last away day, won at Middlesborough and Derby beforehand, as well as picking up a point at Burnley.

Sheffield Wednesday's underwhelming data, coupled with their rotten record against the leading lights make the Black Cats an interesting proposition here, knowing a draw will see our stake returned.

Recommended bets

Back Sunderland 0.0 Asian Handicap @ 1.84