Burnley v Sunderland Tips: Tight tussle forecast at Turf Moor | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Burnley have kept 19 clean sheets in 26 Championship contests

Promotion-chasing pair Burnley and Sunderland meet at Turf Moor on Friday night and Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is expecting a tight Championship tussle.

Burnley v SunderlandFriday January 17, 20:00Live on Sky Sports

Burnley earn extra-time victory

Substitute Zian Flemming scored twice in extra-time as Championship high-flyers Burnley progressed past League One outfit Reading in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup last Saturday. Clarets head coach Scott Parker made 10 changes from the team's last league outing and could have been four goals up inside the opening 15 minutes, such was their dominance.

Speaking post-match, Parker said: "It was a deserved victory. The way we applied ourselves was first class given we made so many changes with players coming in who have not had a lot of football. We started electric; we had a real intensity about us. They get the equaliser after a bit of a mistake from us, but then we had the other gear to go and win the game."

Mike Tresor has made his long-awaited return in Berkshire, appearing as a second-half substitute - it was the Belgian winger's first minutes of the season. Meanwhile, new signing Oliver Sonne was handed his debut at right-back following his January move from Danish side Silkeborg, whilst Manuel Benson and Nathan Redmond have returned to training.

Sunderland suffer FA Cup exit

Sunderland suffered extra-time heartache in their all-Championship FA Cup 3rd Round clash against Stoke at the Stadium of Light last weekend. Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris made five changes to his side and the Wearsiders looked disjointed in the opening half, improving and equalising after the interval before missing opportunities to win the tie in normal time.

Le Bris blamed tiredness from his team post-match after Sunderland played five league games in 15 days before their focus switched to the FA Cup. He said, "We have a short squad so we can't expect a great level of play during the whole game. It's really impossible." The Black Cats bagged 10 points in that five-game to sit three points off the summit.

Young midfielder Chris Rigg has recovered from an ankle injury, Lens loanee Salis Abdul Samed is also available, whilst Dennis Cirkin should also return to the fold with Aji Alese on the treatment table following the Stoke showdown. Defender Dan Ballard is also back in the frame, whilst exciting French playmaker Enzo Le Fee is also in-line for a potential debut.

Black Cats tend to toil on their travels

Burnley and Sunderland have shared a W2-D3-L2 record in league meetings over the last decade. The Black Cats bagged top honours in the reverse encounter back in August via a narrow 1-0 success, though the Wearsiders have failed to succeed in their last five trips to Turf Moor (WO-D3-L2). Five of the last seven head-to-heads featured Under 2.5 Goals.

Burnley 2.22 have lost just twice since relegation with the Clarets building their automatic promotion assault on an exceptional defence. Scott Parker's side have shipped only nine goals in their opening 26 Championship contests, keeping an extraordinary 17 clean sheets. The hosts are W6-D6-L0 on home soil and have met just one of their top-six rivals here.

Sunderland 3.85 have also used their Stadium of Light form as the base for their own promotion challenge with the Black Cats posting W5-D4-L4 on their travels this term. Four of those five away league triumphs arrived at bottom-five sides and Regis Le Bris' boys head to Lancashire having posted a solitary success in their past seven away days (W1-D4-L2).

Oppose goals at Turf Moor

Burnley's rock-solid rearguard makes the Clarets difficult to oppose here, despite their obvious overperformance across the campaign. Scott Parker's side have returned W2-D3-L1 against fellow top-six teams, whilst neither of their two Championship defeats this term have arrived by multiple goals. The hosts are also defending an unbeaten home record.

Sunderland have bagged a win by multiple goals only once against top-16 opposition this season and the Black Cats' patchy road record makes the visitors vulnerable. We can therefore support Burnley +2 Handicap and package it alongside the prolific Both Teams To Score - No selection, a wager that's won in 19 (73%) of Burnley's 26 tussles thus far.

Both Teams To Score - No alongside Burnley +2 Handicap pays a reasonable 1.83 via the Bet Builder.

Recommended bets

Back Burnley +2 Handicap and Both Teams To Score - No @ 1.83