SUNDERLAND. Sunderland had a surprising win over Watford with a 2-0 win with a goal from N. Huggins (43′) and a goal from A. Ba (62′). Sunderland made the most of its better ball possession (58%).

The match was played at the Stadium of Light stadium in Sunderland on Wednesday and it started at 7:45 pm local time. In front of 38,120 spectators.​ The referee was Andy Davies with the help of Graham Kane and Carl Fitch. The 4th official was Simon Mather. The weather was light rain. The temperature was cold at 14.34 degrees Celsius or 57.81 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 72%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

Sunderland had a superior ball possession 58% while Watford was struggling with a 42% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Watford had a more offensive attitude with 48 dangerous attacks and 11 shots of which 4 were on target. Still, Sunderland succeeded in find the solution to win this encounter.​

Sunderland shot 9 times, 4 on target, 1 off target. On the other side, Watford shot 11 times, 4 on target, 3 off target.

Cards

Sunderland received 1 yellow card (Mason Burstow). On the opposite side, Watford received 5 yellow cards (Imrân Louza, Daniel Bachmann, Tom Dele-Bashiru, Ryan Porteous and Jeremy Ngakia).

Also, Watford didn’t end the match with 11 players after Ryan Andrews (Watford) was sent off after receiving a straight red card in the (87′).

Standings

After this match, Sunderland will have 19 points to sit in the 4th place. Talking about the opposition, Watford will stay with 9 points to sit in the 21st place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Championship, Sunderland will play away against Leeds United on the 9th of April with a 3-1 head to head stats in favor of Sunderland (1 draw).

Watford will play away agasint Ipswich Town on the 10th of April with a 13-3 head to head in favor of Watford (3 draws).

Sunderland – Formation

Sunderland started with a mid-fielder-oriented line-up (4-1-4-1).

The manager Tony Mowbray decided to play with the following team: Alex Pritchard, Anthony Patterson (7.9), Niall Huggins (7.8), Daniel Ballard (7.3), Luke O’Nien (7.3), Trai Hume (7.1), Dan Neil (7.3), Abdoullah Ba (7.3), Patrick Roberts (7.5), Jobe Bellingham (7.5), Jack Clarke (7.3) and Mason Burstow (6.8).

The home team had on the bench: Luís Semedo, Nazariy Rusyn, Ellis Taylor, Jewison Bennette, Adil Aouchiche (6.8), Jenson Seelt, Nectarios Triantis, Nathan Bishop and Chris Rigg.

Substitutions

Sunderland made 4 changes: Patrick Roberts for Adil Aouchiche (71′), Mason Burstow for Luís Semedo (90′), Jobe Bellingham for Chris Rigg (90′) and Jack Clarke for Nazariy Rusyn (90′).

Best player: Anthony Patterson​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Sunderland was the goalkeeper: Anthony Patterson. His rating is 7.85. He performed 4 saves.

Watford – Formation

Watford started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

Valérien Ismaël played with: Daniel Bachmann (6.4), Jeremy Ngakia (6.6), Ryan Porteous (7.1), Wesley Hoedt (7.5), Jamal Lewis (6.6), Imrân Louza (6.6), Francisco Sierralta (6.6), Tom Dele-Bashiru (6.7), Thomas Ince (7.0), Vakoun Issouf Bayo (7.1), Giorgi Chakvetadze (7.3).

They had on the bench: Rhys Healey (6.4), Yaser Asprilla (6.6), Jake Livermore, M. Rajović (6.4), Ismael Koné (6.8), Matthew Pollock, Ben Hamer, Edo Kayembe and Ryan Andrews (6.4).

Substitutions

Watford made 5 changes: Thomas Ince for Yaser Asprilla (46′), Jeremy Ngakia for Ryan Andrews (46′), Giorgi Chakvetadze for Rhys Healey (65′), Tom Dele-Bashiru for Ismael Koné (64′) and Imrân Louza for M. Rajović (76′).

Best player: Wesley Hoedt​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Watford was Wesley Hoedt.

His rating is (7.5) with 72 passes (82% accurate) and 1 key pass. He was won 2 duels out of 7.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Championship.​

• Swansea City – Norwich City – 2-1
• Sunderland – Watford – 2-0
• Rotherham United – Bristol City – 1-2
• Leicester City – Preston North End – 3-0
• Leeds United – Queens Park Rangers – 1-0
• Coventry City – Blackburn Rovers – 1-0