Sky Sports pundit predicts scoreline of Burnley v Sunderland | OneFootball

The final eight matches of Burnley's 2022-23 Championship season commence on Friday night when they welcome Sunderland to Turf Moor, and they will be hoping it is the first win of a few they need to secure their spot back in the Premier League.

The Clarets have been the dominant force in the second tier this season, losing just twice to Watford and Sheffield United in August and November respectively on their way to being at the summit of the league.

Vincent Kompany's side are unbeaten in 17 league matches stretching back to November, but this week's opponents certainly gave them a little fright in the reverse fixture in October.

The Black Cats went 2-0 up in the first half with goals from Amad Diallo and Dan Neil, but a second half blitz saw the Clarets run out 4-2 winners at the Stadium of Light.

Burnley are set for another stern examination from the Wearsiders, and former EFL midfielder turned pundit and presenter David Prutton has issued his thoughts and prediction for Friday night's encounter.

What does Prutton think?

"I think from Burnley's point of view it's a case of when, not if (in terms of promotion)," Prutton said on his Sky Sports predictions podcast.

"You can identify players, how you're going to potentially attack the Premier League, because meeting Manchester City showed it's at the very other end of the yardstick, there's plenty of other teams in there that Burnley will take points off, but it shows you how brutal the top end is.

"From Sunderland's point of view - a young team that Tony's ebbed and flowed with over the course of the season, we saw them do very well against Norwich and followed that up with a defeat and a draw so they're very much a work in progress.

"But there's so much to like about Sunderland - given their flirtations with the top six possibly gets everybody a bit too excited for a team that's spent four years outside the Championship, so let's not get too carried away with what Sunderland have done. "I'm looking forward to it - a Friday night at Turf Moor is a great place to start your weekend in the Championship so hopefully for them it will feel like the first step on that processional charge towards the promotion party at some stage.

"It does feel like a Burnley win, even though I've got a lot of time for the Black Cats. I'm going to go Burnley 2-0 Sunderland."

The Verdict

Like Prutton said, it's a matter of when and not if Burnley secure their spot back in the top flight of English football.

They have been sensational for much of the season and with the Black Cats suffering some injuries during the international break, they could be ripe pickings for Kompany and co.

It is unfortunate that the likes of Dan Ballard have been ruled out for a number of weeks as he is definitely one Championship defender you'd back to give Ashley Barnes a good battle, but injuries have been a theme of their season as evidenced by the rotten luck their talisman Ross Stewart has had.