Sunderland’s form is really starting to pick up again after a bit of a drop-off in November. Back-to-back wins over Swansea and Norwich were followed up by a solid away draw to Blackburn, before an off-day when going down to Stoke. However, Wednesday night was one of their highlights of the season when defeating top side Sheffield United 2-1 in front of a packed Stadium of Light. They’ll feel on top of the world now and surely can’t wait for the next game to come. Portsmouth should be on a high on their own after smashing Swansea 4-0 at home. However, they are now back on the road, where they are a completely different outfit. John Mousinho’s side are unbeaten in 5 at Fratton Park, but have won only 1 away league contest all season. They’ve conceded 2 or more in 5 straight away league contests, losing 4 of those. It is just hard to have much faith in them travelling to a team with an unbeaten Championship home record.

Sunderland’s form is picking up but for a while now they have generally been involved in tight games. Their league encounters this season have only averaged 2.40 goals. Having one of the best defensive records in the division is certainly a way of keeping the goals fairly low more often than not. In fact, 72% of their league fixtures have contained fewer than 3.5 goals. The home side realistically shouldn’t have much trouble getting the job done here, but this is the final fixture of a gruelling Christmas and New Year period. They made the headlines beating Sheffield United, however here it will be purely about doing a professional job. 61.54% of their league triumphs have been by a one-goal margin, so they know how to edge out a result. Pompey have the worst away defensive record in the league heading into this round of fixtures. They’ve already shipped 4 or more goals in 4 of their away league games, so clearly they have to sharpen up at the back. Mousinho could look to make them harder to beat, which could frustrate Sunderland. They’d gladly take a point from this, so they’ll likely be a little cautious.

Come kick-off, this Sunderland side should still be experiencing the positive emotions from Wednesday night’s memorable success over Sheffield United. It would be no shock to see them come quickly out of the traps here to try and bag an early lead. Black Cats boss Régis Le Bris may have noted his side have been a little slack in the first half of matches of late. This is something that will be irking him, so he will really be nailing down the importance of bettering this. Sunderland have only been ahead at half time in one of their last 9 league games, however, that was the last one, so things could be changing. And it's reflected in the price we're getting here. Despite that, Sunderland do hold the second-best first half record in the league. Therefore, they are often a good bet more often than not to start strongly.

Someone that has rediscovered his shooting boots recently is Wilson Isidor. After a spell of 7 matches without a goal, the 24-year-old has now netted 2 in his last 3 appearances. This is someone that tends to score in patches, having recorded 3 goals within a 4-match period earlier in the campaign. The Frenchman is often a good candidate to focus on when trying to locate a likely Sunderland goalscorer. After all, he is their top scorer this season in all competitions with 7. After initially taking some time to adjust to football in a new league within a new country for him, Isidor has now clearly settled into life on Wearside. We have to again touch upon the poor defensive record Portsmouth have on the road this season. For all that they’ll attempt to improve this, they will always be vulnerable against strong offensive opponents. With Isidor in the form he is in, Pompey defenders will have to be switched on all game, which won’t be so easy at the end of this hectic festive schedule.