English Premier
2008-12-13 - Sunderland vs West Brom
A Sports Betting Pick by chappers
- English Premier League -
Stadium of Light
13th December 2008 KO 3pm
Sunderland (18th EPL)
Played 15 with 15 points
Not sure where to start with Sunderland at the moment as we have some good players who have not been performing so far this season. Now it could be said that this was down to the departed Roy Keane who depending on who you listen to had lost the dressing room. For me this could well have been the case and while I was gutted when the news broke than Keane had left, now after having time to think about it, it maybe for the best and hopefully before this game kicks off a new manager will be sitting in the dugout at the Stadium of light.
On to the football and at home this season we have been pretty awful in recent weeks and the football I sat and watched last time out when we lost 4-1 to Bolton was as bad as anything I saw during the 19 and 15 point seasons. However the week before that we played Portsmouth of the park in the first half and if we had been 4 up at half time, I don’t think anyone would have been surprised. But, we didn’t and went on to lose the game. At home this season we have a record of 2-1-5 and when you consider it was our home form that kept us up last season this just isn’t good enough.
Overall at the moment I’m a little bit concerned but I guess that's only if you look at the league table as after all we are only 6 points from the top half of the table so I don’t think there is any need to panic just yet. Last weekend saw us lose 1-0 to a late goal at Old Trafford and while we didn’t pose anything going forward, we did show some much needed team sprit that has been lacking in recent weeks.
West Brom (20th EPL)
Played 15 with 11 points
I guess most people would have tipped West Brom to go right back to the Championship at the start of the season and that would have included me. At the moment they are rooted to the bottom of the table and know that only once in the history of the premier league has the team at the bottom at Christmas managed to stay up, so they will be hoping that they can get a few more points between now and Christmas day in order to not have that added pressure on them.
Away from home has seen the baggies play eight games with only one victory and that was a 1-0 win Boro back in late September and more recently on their travels they have lost to both Wigan and Stoke and when you also consider that they have lost six out of the eight away they have played they will know that an upturn in away form will be required if they are to have any chance of staying up.
Overall as you would expect for a team bottom of the league it has been a struggle with a record of 3-2-10 which tells its own story and while they have been poor away from home they have been just as bad in front of their own fans with only two wins all season. So unless West Brom start to turn it around soon it's going to be a long hard winter for them and for me if they do have the honour of being bottom at Christmas then it's back to the championship.
Head 2 Head
Not to much to go on using the H2H with these two teams when it comes to playing in Wearside. A record of 2-1-2 over the last five league meetings with Sunderland winning last time 2-0 back in 2006/07 in the Championship (which was the first game that Keane was there to see).
Verdict
At the moment both of these teams are in the bottom three and as such this is a massive game. On form both team would more than likely lose this game but of course as we know this isn't possible. As a Sunderland fan at the start of the season I thought that while we wouldn’t be great and set the world alight this season I did think that we would spend most of the season around mid table and of course did not see Roy Keane leaving the club.
By the time this game kicks off Sunderland could well have a new manager (will update the preview if this is the case), but regardless of this I think for a team that has now lost four home games on the bounce that this is a must win game for Sunderland, and while of course it could be said that its also a must win game for West Brom, I think that Sunderland will win what will be a close game and the odds of even money is decent enough.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland to win this game
BEST BETTING TIP :
Pick Sunderland to win @ 2.00
