Sunderland v Middlesbrough

A big local derby can be hard to forecast, but everything is pointing to a win for the Premier League side over the visitors from the Championship. Sunderland have won three and drawn one of four home games under Martin O’Neill, while Middlesbrough have slumped to three straight defeats in the Championship.

The form book is compelling but 4/6 (PaddyPower) on the home win is hardly mouth-watering. Instead I think we can sweeten the deal by backing the Black Cats to win with a clean sheet. Sunderland are a best price of 6/4 (WilliamHill) to be the only goalscorers at the Stadium of Light.

The Mackems have looked strong defensively lately, winning three of their last five matches with a clean sheet. In the other two fixtures in that run they conceded just once in each; they have been miserly in 2012 so far.

Meanwhile, Tony Mowbray’s promotion hopefuls have struggled to find the net since the turn of the year. They have scored a grim total of one goal in the run of three straight league defeats while the solitary strike against League Two Shrewsbury in the last round hardly set pulses racing at the Riverside.

All and all, Simon Mignolet may have a pretty quiet afternoon in goal while his team-mates should have some joy down the other end.