Argyle make longest trip of the season still in search of first league away win

Plymouth Argyle face an 810-mile round trip to Wearside for Tuesday night’s Sky Bet League One fixture against promotion hopefuls Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The journey is already Argyle’s longest of the season, having to travel nearly the entire length of the country to get to the North East, but may feel even longer given The Pilgrims’ form on the road this campaign.

No team in League One have picked up more points at home than Plymouth Argyle so far this season, who have gathered 24 points from 13 matches at Home Park.

Despite this, Argyle currently sit 15th in the table with just 27 points from 22 matches. Plymouth’s away form is the worst in the division, with just three points, coming from three draws in nine games.

The inability to win, or even pick up points, away from home is what currently has them sitting in the middle of the road.

As well as poor form in the league, Argyle lost away to Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup, blowing a 2-0 lead in the process, and away at Cheltenham Town in the Papa John’s Trophy.

The FA Cup has seen a different story, however, with Ryan Lowe’s men having picked up wins away at Charlton Athletic in Round One and Huddersfield Town in Round Three, albeit, against a much-weakened Town side.

The Devon side’s most recent away game was that 3-2 victory at Huddersfield two weeks ago, which will likely have boosted confidence coming into the game at the Stadium of Light, but Sunderland will likely also be feeling confident given Argyle’s record in League One.

The Black Cats have a mixed record on Wearside this season though, having picked up just 13 points from ten games, and have not won at home in the league since the start of November.

Lee Johnson did pick up his first home win as Sunderland boss last week, however, beating Port Vale 2-0 in the Papa John’s Trophy.

Both sides will be looking at this game as an opportunity to kickstart their respective home/away form this campaign. Both will likely feel it is a game they can win, given the form of their opponents.

Two of the top goal scorers this season in League One are likely to share the pitch and could be the player that makes the difference on the night. In the league, Argyle’s Luke Jephcott has scored 13 goals in 18 games, while Sunderland’s Charlie Wyke has 10 goals in the same amount of matches as the Plymouth forward.

The form of these sides follows a similar pattern to the goal scoring records of these players. Jephcott has just four league goals away from home, while eight of Wyke’s 10 goals have come away from the Stadium of Light.

Both players were on the scoresheet for their sides on Saturday, with Wyke scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win away at AFC Wimbledon, while Jephcott converted a penalty to give Argyle the lead in a 1-1 draw with Crewe Alexandra.

Panutche Camara will miss the game for Argyle having been sent off late on against Crewe. This could see Argyle move Conor Grant back into midfield from wingback, which could see Liverpool-loanee Adam Lewis make his full debut.

Another player who could make a debut for Argyle is striker Niall Ennis, who joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. Ennis spent the first half of the season at Burton Albion where he largely failed to make an impact, but he has been a long term target of Lowe, who has finally got his man.

Gary Sawyer and George Cooper are also expected to miss out through injury for the visitors. Lewis MacLeod may also miss out on the fixture, but the extent of his injury is not clear.

Sunderland could have a full debutant of their own in Carl Winchester. The former Forest Green Rovers man came off the bench at the weekend but is yet to make his first start for the club.

Denver Hume and Conor McLaughlin will both miss out for the hosts through injury, with Lynden Gooch also likely to miss out after a positive Covid-19 test.

The last time the sides met was in March 2019 at the Stadium of Light in a game Sunderland won 2-0, with goals from Lee Cattermole and George Honeyman. The hosts were the only side that ever looked like winning the game and, perhaps, should have won more comfortably.

It’s been almost 15 years since Argyle last recorded a victory over Sunderland, which also came at the Stadium of Light, back in August 2006.

Daryl Murphy put Sunderland ahead within the first minute of that game, but goals from David Norris and Barry Hayles had the visitors ahead at the break. Stephen Elliott equalised for Sunderland midway through the second half, but with eight minutes to go Nick Chadwick secured the points for an Argyle side then managed by Ian Holloway.

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