Blackburn v Sunderland: Keep rock-solid Rovers onside at Ewood

• Blackburn have W5-D0-L2 at home, scoring 2+ in 5/7
• Sunderland are missing forwards Simms and Stewart
• Brereton has 6 goal involvements in 7 at Ewood Park

Blackburn win at Boro

Blackburn recorded their first away Championship victory since August on Saturday as Rovers bagged a 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough. Jon Dahl Tomasson's led 2-1 at the interval with Darragh Lenihan's own goal and a thumping Sam Gallagher second putting the visitors in complete command before Boro halved the deficit just moments before the break.

The Ewood Park outfit could have taken a wider-margin advantage into half-time; Gallagher had opportunity for a hat-trick were it not for some fine goalkeeping but Blackburn then had display resilience in the second period as the hosts piled on the pressure. Thomas Kaminski and Dom Hyam produced rock-solid efforts in the Rovers rearguard to preserve the points.

Post-match, Tomasson was full of praise for his players, saying: "It was a brilliant performance. I though the first half was excellent, almost every time we attacked we created chances. I think we should have killed the game. In the second half we showed big character, defended the box, big saves, stopping crosses, playing with heart, showing the supporters two different Rovers."

The Rovers squad showed four changes, as Callum Brittain, Ash Phillips, Adam Wharton and Gallagher came into the starting line-up. While Tomasson continued with his back three, there was a move to a three-man midfield, with Wharton partnering Lewis Travis and Tyler Morton, and Blackburn are expected to field a similar system here in midweek.

Mowbray inspires Sunderland turnaround

Second-half goals from Elliot Embleton and Dennis Cirkin saw Sunderland come from behind to beat Wigan at the Stadium of Light. It was an inspired half-time switch from Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray that helped his team get back on the scoresheet, with an attacking 4-4-2 sparking a crucial win in a feisty fixture from Wearside.

Mowbray continued his search for options up front with Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart both sidelined, this time turning to Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts in a 3-5-2, Cirkin replacing the suspended Corry Evans in the only change to the starting XI. And Roberts came close to giving Sunderland the lead before the Latics opened the scoring on the strike of half-time.

As well as the tactical tinkering, Mowbray demanded his side pick up the pace in possession. He said, "We talked about quickening everything up, take throws in quickly and free kicks. I told them I'm not interested in possession stats, I want to see shots. We scored a couple of goals and looked a threat. I want us to be a brave football team and we were there."

The three points moves Sunderland into the top-10 but it was only the Black Cats' second home Championship triumph since promotion, a figure that Mowbray was also keen to improve upon in the coming weeks.

Rovers fair favourites at Ewood Park

Blackburn and Sunderland are crossing swords for the first time in over a decade when the duo were Premier League opponents. Rovers have returned a solitary success in their most recent eight head-to-head encounters with the Wearside visitors (W1-D3-L4) but can boast a respectable W3-D3-L1 home league record against the Black Cats going back to 2001/02.

Blackburn 2.206/5 have overperformed this term according to underlying performance data metrics with no team generating a lower xG average thus far (0.90 xG). Nevertheless, Jon Dahl Tomasson's troops have proven to be rock-solid operators at Ewood Park (W5-D0-L2), scoring at least twice on five occasions and shipping just six home goals this season.

Sunderland 3.3512/5 earned their first league victory in five on Saturday (W1-D3-L1), and the away side have struggled to sustain their early-season exploits with key forwards Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart unavailable through injury. The Black Cats scored just once in three before the weekend and arrive at Ewood Park with a W3-D1-L3 road record this season.

Brereton to lead Blackburn charge

Blackburn's fixtures thus far are averaging just 2.06 Expected Goals (xG) per-game and 2.33 goals. Just one of their opening 15 encounters have featured four or more goals and I'm quite happy to oppose a high-scoring shootout on Tuesday night considering Sunderland are missing key personnel in attacking positions; Under 2.5 Goals is trading at 1.738/11.

But I'm quite happy to delve into the Bet Builder for a more attractive price. Here, Blackburn Double Chance, Under 3.5 Goals and Ben Brereton to Score or Assist can be snapped up at 3.83. We're effectively supporting Rovers to win 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, or 2-1, as well as having the 1-1 correct scores onside whilst asking Brereton to play a key role in a home goal.

Brereton has had eight goal involvements in 15 Championship appearances for the hosts already this term, with five goals and an assist arriving in just seven Ewood Park outings. Sunderland have shipped multiple goals in back-to-back road trips and rank inside the bottom-six when viewing the early-season away Expected Goals (xG) ratings.