There is an unpredictability about Preston that makes it impossible to completely write them off ahead of their visit to the Stadium of Light. Nevertheless, Sunderland look in better shape than they were for Beale's first home game, leaving us to predict a narrow win for the North-East outfit.
Read more.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sunderland win with a probability of 51.54%. A win for Preston North End had a probability of 24.35% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sunderland win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.66%) and 2-0 (8.91%). The likeliest Preston North End win was 0-1 (6.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.42%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Sunderland would win this match.