Tag: Sunderland

City To Run Riot At The Stadium Of Light

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

PREMIER League basement boys Sunderland faces a very tough test on Sunday when they host Man City at the Stadium of Light, and I don’t give the Black Cats much hope of moving off the bottom of the table in this one.

David Moye’s has a massive job on his hands to keep this Sunderland side in the top flight and with injuries piling up and other teams around them getting results I am not surprised that they are just 1.14 for the drop.

The home side is in free-fall after just one win in their last 11 matches, and there looks little to no chance that they can pull off an 11.00 surprise win with Bet365 against a City side that arrives here in rampant form.

Pep Guardiola’s side has finally hit their stride and is still going strong in three tournaments; last week’s 5-3 Champions League win over Monaco was the best match of the season so far, and with 11 wins from their last 15 matches, they will get the job done again at the weekend.

The bookies, however, are taking no chances and rate the visitors just 1.30 to close the gap on leaders Chelsea with a win, which might interest you if you are a big staking punter, but even though I do anticipate another City success, I will just be including them in my Premier League accumulator.

City has now scored at least two goals in their last EIGHT matches and against a Sunderland that have failed to score in FIVE of their last six games that bring a couple of alternative ways to get with City.

In two of the last three meetings in this fixture, City has won by a 4-1 margin and another easy afternoon is expected. I would take the visitors to cover the -1.5 on the Asian handicap which is 1.81 with BetVictor.

Also in SEVEN of the last eight clashes between the two, over 2.5 goals has been a winning bet, and with City more than capable of doing that on their own, that also looks appealing at the general quotes of 1.45 with most bookies.

Sergio Aguero has capitalised on regaining his place in the starting line-up due to the injury to Gabriel Jesus, and the Argentinian who scored twice in the win against Monaco and four in his last three starts against Sunderland looks an outstanding bet to open the goal scoring again in this latest meeting at 3.50 with BetVictor.

Sunderland Simply Must Start Winning

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

David Moyes is a man under pressure. Sunderland is rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with only thirteen games to go. The arrival of Moyes at the Stadium of Light was seen as a move that would bring solidity to Sunderland. The reality has been much different. A procession of near misses in recent seasons with regards to relegation has taken its toll.

Whether the blame is with Moyes or with the Sunderland board is unclear. It has been slightly surprising to see Moyes still in a job in February. The demand to stay in the Premier League has never been higher. A creditable goalless draw with Tottenham and a 4-0 thumping of Crystal Palace were deceiving.

Is Sunderland Good Enough?

This is a big question? They were humiliated at home to Southampton with most of their crowd leaving early. With several relegation candidates picking up points recently, Sunderland is clearly under pressure. If they don’t begin to pick up points soon, it is tough to see David Moyes surviving until the end of the season.

Sunderland travels to Everton in what appears to be a really challenging encounter. Everton is clearly the best team in the Premier League outside of the top six. Ronald Koeman has done a fantastic job of pulling them together. They work to a really solid system that suits them. What Sunderland need is a couple of easier fixtures. Goodison Park certainly isn’t on that list.

Can we Back Sunderland to win?

Sunderland is a best priced 13/2 with SkyBET but even at those odds, it is difficult to see them winning. Sunderland just looks so poor at the moment. Everton is currently 2/5 with William Hill and that is almost like buying money.

The Black Cats are still in the hunt for survival and are only two points adrift of the safety zone. It is this that has kept David Moyes in a job. If that gap increases to five points or more then we can expect the board to take action. Bet365 are a best priced 17/4 for the draw and that is a good bet too.

So the decision is whether to bet on the draw or the home win? The better option is the home win. Sunderland simply doesn’t appear to be capable of getting a result against a top seven side away from home. Their 0-0 draw with Tottenham was misleading. The look of despair on Moyes’ face during their display against Southampton said it all. That was the look of a man who knew his team are in trouble.

Sunderland vs. Chelsea: Top vs. Bottom Clash

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

This midweek fixture sees top place Chelsea travel to the North East looking to extend their winning streak to 10 straight games on the trot. They play a Sunderland team rooted to the bottom of the table with just 11 points from 15 games. Chelsea will be looking to extend their run against a team in dire straits, and Sunderland will be hoping for any advantage in a game many have written off before the whistle has even been blown.

Winning Streak

Chelsea has been flourishing under new manager Antonio Conte. The last time they lost in the League was September 24th against Arsenal, and have only conceded twice since then. It’s starting to look as though Conte is well and truly capable of bringing the same form to London that made his old club Juventus so untouchable in Serie A during the last few seasons. Chelsea is increasingly looking like they will be the team to beat for the title come May, especially with no European campaign to distract them.

It’s certainly hard to see Sunderland getting anything against this Chelsea side. Conte will be able to draw from a squad with few injuries to key players: Terry, Mikel and Oscar are all doubtful, but none of these has been integral to their early successes. Matic made his return against West Brom and will likely start. The manager will be able to field a squad unchanged from Sunday if he chooses to; key men Costa and Hazard may just provide too much of a challenge for Sunderland to deal with.

Can Sunderland turn it around?

On the face of it, this game could be looked at as a typical top vs. bottom. 3 goals in the 2nd half saw the Black Cats washed out in their relegation 6 pointer away against Swansea on Saturday, and David Moyes will know that his team will fall well short of the mark against the League leaders if they can’t make drastic improvements.

However, a closer look at Sunderland’s recent form does show some promise. Going into November saw them absolutely floored at the bottom of the table, with only two points from the first 10 games. Since then, they were able to take 9 points from 5 games, all through wins. This run has seen them pull themselves back up into contention, but whether these results are the signs of an overall shift in form is yet to be seen. The poor weekend results against relegation rivals Swansea was a massive blow and may haunt them later on in the season.

Injuries are another major concern for Moyes, with Cattermole, Rodwell, Watmore and Gooch all ruled out. The squad will see little change from that of Saturday when the hole left in the midfield by these absences was telling. The clubs only real goal scoring threats, Defoe and Anichebe, are both available to play.

Cats vs. Lions

Head to head form suggests slightly better prospects for Sunderland than their current form does. Chelsea’s last visit to the Stadium of Light saw Sunderland win 3:2 in an enthralling encounter last May, a result vital to last season’s survival. Prior to that, they have 1 win and 9 consecutive defeats to the London club at home.

It’s really hard to envision Sunderland taking anything from this game. We will likely see Moyes taking an ultra-defensive approach, as he did against Liverpool at Anfield in November. Couple this with Chelsea’s superb defensive record, it’s hard to see them getting a goal, let alone points on Wednesday. But with Defoe up front, backed by a home crowd, it’s certainly not an impossibility.

Bet 365 have Chelsea to win at 1/3, so it might be worth trying to enhance these odds. Chelsea Win/BTTS No is at 6/5, with this result slightly favoured by the bookies over Chelsea Win/BTTS Yes at 15/8.

If you are keen on a Chelsea clean sheet, it could be worth taking Chelsea 2:0 or even 3:0 at 6/1 and 15/2 on William Hill, add Costa as an anytime goalscorer and you might just have some tasty odds. If you think that Sunderland is capable of an upset, Coral have a draw at 17/4.

Premiership Preview – Saturday 21st March

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

As expected, the Premiership interest in the Champions League came to an end this week with Arsenal and Man City following Chelsea out of the exit door. Everton were thrashed last night to end their run in the Europa League so domestic football is all that remains for EPL fans.

Manchester City were fortunate to escape without an embarrassing score line in Barcelona, thanks largely to Joe Hart in goal. That defeat followed on the heels of an expensive defeat at Burnley in the Premiership and they need to start winning immediately if they are to have any hope of defending their title.

The knives are already out for Manuel Pellegrini as there seems no room for failure these days. They are at home to West Brom in the early kick-off and I expect Albion to give them a game. Odds of around 4-1 for a draw are tempting as City try to drag themselves back in touch with Chelsea. They are now looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack and another slip up on Saturday could see them drop to fourth this weekend.

Southampton’s season has faded slightly but they were still good enough to hold Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last week. A similar display would bring them three points at home to Burnley, although the Clarets will be buoyed by their win over City.

Dick Advocaat begins his short-term appointment at Sunderland with a trip to London to face West Ham. Sam Allardyce, linked with the Sunderland job for next season, has allowed his side to slump alarmingly in recent weeks. Even so, the Black Cats were so appalling against Aston Villa last week that it would be no surprise to see a home win.

Tim Sherwood has seemingly produced a miracle cure at Villa Park with his side scoring goals and winning. They could continue the trend at home to Swansea who lacked a cutting edge against Liverpool last week, eventually losing 1-0 to a fluke goal by Henderson. I was impressed with Arsenal against Monaco in midweek. What a shame that they did not play half as well at home. Their Champions League may be over for another year but they are challenging City for second place and I can’t see them slipping up at Newcastle.

Tottenham were awful against Man United in the first half last week and need to bounce back at home to Leicester while Stoke v Crystal Palace has “draw” written all over it.

Man City v West Brom DRAW @19-4 Bet365

Aston Villa to beat Swansea @6-4 Bet365

Arsenal to beat Newcastle @8-13 Paddy Power

Southampton to beat Burnley by 1 goal @27-10 BetVictor

Stoke v Crystal Palace DRAW @23-10 Bet365

Tottenham to beat Leicester @3-5 Bet365

West Ham to beat Sunderland @9-10 BetVictor

Advocaat favourite to replace Poyet at Sunderland

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Sunderland have sacked coach Gus Poyet following Saturday’s embarrassing 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa. The Black Cats now have just nine games left to avoid relegation and they currently sit just one point above the relegation zone.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham star Poyet had been in charge for 17 months at the Stadium of Light and had led them to safety last season following the departure of Paolo Di Canio. He also took them to the final of the Capital One Cup but crisis talks on Monday failed to convince the board that the Uruguayan should remain in charge.

There has been increasing unrest at the club and Poyet almost came to blows with Steve Bruce during the recent match with Hull. The sight of thousands of fans heading out of the stadium before half-time on Saturday proved the final straw. Poyet joins Bruce and Martin O’Neill on the list of recent Sunderland bosses that have failed to last the test of time. Remaining fixtures include trips to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Bookmakers have installed Dick Advocaat as even money favourite to replace Poyet. The former Rangers boss left his job as coach of the Serbian national team last year. Negotiations are already under way to bring in the 67-year-old on a short-term basis.

The youth academy pair of Paul Bracewell and Kevin Ball have also been linked with a temporary appointment, although odds vary wildly on the pair. Bracewell is 8-1 with Bet365 and only 4-1 with Ladbrokes while Ball is as high as 16-1 with BetVictor.

Sam Allardyce has seen a promising season at West Ham disintegrate in recent weeks, their 3-0 defeat at Arsenal being their fifth in eight matches with three draws. Their last victory came against Bristol City in the FA Cup in January. The Hammers have slid down the table to tenth place but are still comfortably clear of relegation. It is difficult to imagine Allardyce being enticed to the north-east at this stage of the season, especially with Sunderland due to visit the London club this coming Saturday. His price varies between 5-1 on Betfair and 9-1 on Betway.

Other more speculative candidates include Michael Laudrup (16-1), Mark Warburton (20-1) and Steve McLaren (25-1). The former England boss is as short as 7-1 with Ladbrokes.

Premier League Preview 14th – 16th March

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

After the midweek debacle at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Premiership leaders have a point to prove at home to Southampton on Sunday. Chelsea have been widely condemned for their approach to the second leg of their tie with PSG and Manchester City have a chance to apply extra pressure on Saturday.

City travel to Burnley who fought back so valiantly to grab a point at the Etihad earlier in the season. More recently, they snatched an unlikely point at Chelsea following the dismissal of Nemanja Matic for retaliation. Burnley have a habit of playing better when they are behind but they cannot afford to take any liberties against City.

The champions had to work hard to beat Leicester 2-0 in their last league game and will have one eye on next week’s Champions League clash with Barcelona. Very few people are expecting them to win against the Spanish giants but Schalke’s performance against Real Madrid will certainly have reminded them that anything is possible. Even a narrow victory would be enough to reduce Chelsea’s lead to three points, until Sunday at least.

Arsenal face an uphill task recovering from a 3-1 home defeat by Monaco next week but must first make sure they take three points against West Ham. The Gunners have plenty of strength in their squad so can afford to rotate while the Hammers seem to be on a slippery slope. There is also a London derby in the early kick-off with Crystal Palace hosting QPR.

Rangers’ 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham summed up their season. They fought valiantly but never really looked like getting anything out of the game. Their away form is already the stuff of legends and Alan Pardew’s side can inflict another painful blow. Tim Sherwood has already taken Aston Villa to an FA Cup semi-final and inflicted two defeats on midlands rivals West Brom.

Unfortunately their FA Cup clash was marred by a moronic crowd invasion that revived memories of the late 1970’s. They now travel to relegation rivals Sunderland who also had more trouble off the pitch than on it last week as Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce almost came to blows. It should be a tough battle and a draw may be the smartest option.

Whether or not there is any merit in Jose Mourinho’s on-going siege mentality at Stamford Bridge, it has to be said that his side were awful against PSG. They played the type of football that is the polar opposite to everything that is good about the Premier League. Southampton are no mugs and Ronald Koeman will sense an opportunity here. The Saints haven’t given up on a top four finish odds of 11-2 are tempting. Chelsea did play extra-time on Wednesday and I’ll be surprised if they don’t make a nervous start.

Man United and Louis van Gaal came in for heavy criticism following their FA Cup exit against Arsenal and now face Tottenham at Old Trafford. Spurs picked themselves up well from their Wembley disappointment and 3-1 is also quite generous against a patchy United side. Liverpool conclude the week’s fixtures at Swansea on Monday and can boost their Champions League hopes with a narrow victory.

Crystal Palace to beat QPR @5-6 Bet365

Arsenal (-1.0) to beat West Ham @11-10 Sportingbet

Sunderland v Aston Villa DRAW @23-10 Sportingbet

Man City to beat Burnley by 1 goal @13-5 Bet365

Southampton to beat Chelsea @11-2 Bet365

Tottenham to beat Man United @10-3 Coral