Sunderland play Burnley in the Premier League on Monday night.
The Black Cats host the Clarets at the Stadium of Light, and will be looking to make amends for the 2-0 defeat they suffered in the reverse fixture at Turf Moor back in August.
Since then, of course, the two clubs have enjoyed notably different fortunes in the Premier League, with Sunderland currently five points off the top four, while Burnley are some 10 points adrift of safety.
Scott Parker’s men have shown some promising signs of life in recent weeks, however, recording three straight draws against Manchester United, Liverpool, and most recently Tottenham Hotspur, who they shared the spoils with last time out after conceding a late Cristian Romero equaliser as the contest finished 2-2.
For their part, the Black Cats were beaten 3-1 by West Ham, but Stelling has predicted that they will bounce back with a victory that could see them climb as high as sixth in the table, depending on results elsewhere.
What did Jeff Stelling say about Sunderland vs Burnley?
Speaking in his weekly predictions round-up for talkSPORT, Stelling said: “Monday night football closes out the action as Sunderland take on Burnley. Now, last season Burnley finished 24 points clear of Sunderland in the Championship. This season, Sunderland are 18 points clear of Burnley in the Premier League. Sunderland are unbeaten at home all season long, the only Premier League side to boast an unbeaten home record. And while Burnley keep battling away, I see the gap between these two sides becoming 21 points. Yep, a home win for me. Sunderland 1-0 Burnley.”
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What did Burnley boss Scott Parker say about Sunderland?
Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s trip to the North East, Burnley boss Scott Parker was quick to admit that he has been impressed with Sunderland this term.
He said: “They've done incredible. They've done really well. Obviously, invested a huge amount of money and probably seen a totally different squad to the squad they were last year, but they've done very, very well. I think momentum for them, obviously, early on in the season when they picked up points as well has probably pushed them as well.
“So, we’re going to a tough place, like we know. We went there last year, a stadium that is hostile as well. We know what we're coming up against, albeit a very different team to the one we faced, but we faced them already this year and got a positive result. So, we're looking forward to that game on Monday.”
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