Last time out...

Will and Chris were the width of Tom Flanagan’s boot polish away from collecting three points and charging up the table, but the linesman wanted his moment in the spotlight and it wasn’t to be. Which meant zero points all round after our defeat in midweek.

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Current standings...

Zero points all round means no change to our leaderboard.

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How the points are awarded...

Just a quick reminder on how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:

• Correct score = 3 points
• Correct outcome (but not correct score) = 1 point
• Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = 1 point
• Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting = to be decided

We also have our League One predictions here that went out on the site before the season began. We’ll keep an eye on these as we go along because at the end of the season, this will come back into play when each correctly placed side adds five points to that person’s tally.

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This week’s predictions...

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Explain yourself...

Phil Butler says...

Sunderland 3-0 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Aiden McGeady

If you do the right things often enough things tend to even themselves out over the course of the season, and after losing a game we could have easily won three or four goals to nil I'm backing this mantra to come true this afternoon.

Aiden McGeady was the main culprit after missing his one-on-one when the scores were level, you get the feel that if he had scored then Lee Johnson's side would have run out comfortable winners, so I hope he can make up for that miss today.

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Malcolm Dugdale says...

Sunderland 3-1 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

I fully expect the lads to bounce back and us to get a good few goals in this next home match, after a disappointing result accompanying a good performance at Burton. Getting back to winning ways is important to reinstate confidence and momentum and I’m backing big Ross to notch first.

Time to draw a line under a game that even Jimmy Floyd admitted was an unfortunate game for Sunderland. Let’s get back on the horse lads and make our home ground a castle we can build from.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Matthew Foster says...

Sunderland 2-0 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

Whilst it was a disappointing result on Tuesday, we have no time to dwell on it, and need an immediate reaction against Wimbledon. To be fair, I thought the performance was decent, and if we start with the same intent, we should blow the socks off the real Dons.

They themselves have had a steady start, and remain unbeaten in all competitions, with one win and two draws in the league. I feel we will have too much for them today, and hopefully, we bag a couple of goals to really get the mood back up on Wearside.

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Jack Howe-Gingell says...

Sunderland 2-0 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

A disappointing result midweek has not dampened my enthusiasm as I’m very happy with the way we’re playing.

Wimbledon are likely to be amongst those who make up the numbers in League One and I’d expect us to play as such. It would be great for us to get out of the traps early, and make amends for the missed opportunities from Burton.

Losing talisman Joe Pigott must be a real blow for Wimbledon, but they have started well, remaining unbeaten despite this. I’m hoping we can start well and play with swagger.

The Loch Ness Drogba will set us on our way.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Will Jones says...

Sunderland 3-1 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Elliot Embleton

After another decent performance, we must bounce back and push on. I believe we all played well despite the fact we fluffed a fair few decent chances throughout, and not being able to respond.

It was always going to be a fight on such a small pitch but what I didn’t expect was for us to dominate the stats to such an extent. We finally looked like a team who does this on the regular and just had an off day.

I believe LJ will give them a kick up the arse push them on and for us to go ahead early but still not keep a clean sheet.

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Martin Wanless says...

Sunderland 2-0 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Elliot Embleton

After Tuesday’s unfortunate defeat it’s imperative we bounce back with a win against Wimbledon, and I’m confident we will. Quite simply, if we want to go up we just need to tick these games off, three points, onto the next.

I expect Johnson to change things up a little for the game, and I expect Alex Pritchard to be given a start ahead of McGeady. After opening his Sunderland account against MK Dons, I’m hoping Embleton gets his first goal at the SoL on Saturday. I think he’s going to be a crucial player for us this season, and the more confidence he can get the better. Embo, 2-0.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Chris Wynn says...

Sunderland 2-0 AFC Wimbledon

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

A whisker away from calling the draw in midweek, but I’m backing us for a routine victory against AFC Wimbledon.

Part of me thinks we could really go to town this week and use the events of midweek to win by four or maybe five, but I’m not going to be greedy - I’ll settle for two and a clean sheet.

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