Burton Albion welcome Sunderland to the Pirelli Stadium with both sides’ 100% record at stake

Burton Albion welcome Sunderland to Staffordshire on Tuesday evening, with both sides looking to extend their excellent starts to the season.

The Brewers and the Black Cats come into this game after back-to-back wins in their opening two league games but one, or both, will lose that record at the Pirelli Stadium.

Burton started the season with a 1-0 win away at Shrewsbury Town, before beating Ipswich Town 2-1 at home at the weekend.

Sunderland meanwhile have beaten Wigan Athletic 2-1 at home before beating MK Dons by the same scoreline at Stadium MK.

Neither side has lost in 90 minutes in any competition yet this season, with Sunderland also beating Port Vale 2-1 in the Carabao Cup, while Burton held Oxford United to a 1-1 draw before losing 4-2 on penalties.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side put together a sensational run of form last season, which saw them go from being dead and buried when he was appointed to finishing comfortably in 16th.

Many predicted that his side would struggle to replicate anything similar this season, but in beating a much fancied Ipswich side at the weekend, the Brewers have shown they’re capable of competing. A win against another promotion favourite would certainly enhance public opinion of Hasselbaink’s side, and their prospects this season.

Sunderland will also be very pleased with how their season has started considering they’ve struggled for numbers in key positions in the early weeks of the season.

Recent signings have helped to alleviate the pressure but players will still need time to settle in. The fact that Lee Johnson has managed to start the season with three wins out of three in all competitions is impressive.

Johnson will be aware however that he has seen runs like this before. The former Bristol City boss was nicknamed ‘streaky Johnson’ in Bristol for his side’s up and down form, and his start to life on Wearside has mirrored this so far.

After being appointed as manager, Sunderland went on a great run before a dismal end to the season saw them blow their chances at automatic promotion and almost miss out on the play-offs.

The start to this season will no doubt be pleasing, but there is bound to be a worry that similar form may kick in at the Black Cats this season.

Burton have been a thorn in Sunderland’s side in the past, and it was a defeat against the Brewers that saw Sunderland relegated from the Championship just 12 months after losing their top flight status.

The sides have met seven times, most recently in February when the Wearside outfit won 3-0 at the Pirelli Stadium with goals from Grant Leadbitter, Lynden Gooch and Charlie Wyke.

Sunderland have won just two of the seven meetings against the Staffordshire side, including the first meeting between the sides which finished 2-0 to the Black Cats.

The five games between the two mentioned went mainly Burton’s way with the Brewers winning three times and the two sides drawing the other two encounters.

Despite Burton’s good record overall against Sunderland they have won just one of three meetings at the Pirelli Stadium, with Sunderland winning the other two.

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