English Premier
2012-09-15 - Sunderland vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 15 September 2012 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Sunderland
Sunderland will get their first home game of the Premier League season underway in front of the TV cameras, unless there is another day of torrential rainfall that saw their game with Reading called off a few weeks ago. Martin O'Neill has managed to revitalise the squad with a couple of new signings and will feel confident they can add to Liverpool's worries.
They remain unbeaten having picked up 2 draws from their opening League games of the season, those coming at Arsenal and Swansea while Steven Fletcher is off the mark with 2 goals for his new side. Sunderland are 13th in the early Premier League table with that extra game over most of the other sides, and they have also won their only home game this season in the Capital One Cup.
The Black Cats did falter a little down the stretch last season and failed to win any of their last 4 games at the Stadium of Light, although Sunderland have only lost 2 of their last 12 home games in the League. Steven Fletcher has been signed to provide the goals for a team that failed to score in 3 of their last 4 home games in the League.
Phil Bardsley, Wes Brown and David Vaughan all missed the games prior to the international break, but could all be back in contention having two weeks to recover. Adam Johnson should have recovered from a thigh injury in time to start.
Liverpool
It's far too early to be making rash decisions when it comes to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, but he has to turn things around as the fans are unlikely to be as forgiving towards him as they were towards Kenny Dalglish. The poor start to the season has only been magnified by their failures to attract new signings in the transfer window.
Liverpool have earned just 1 point from their opening 3 League games, although they did just about progress through to the Group Stage of the Europa League with a 2-1 aggregate win over Hearts. They are 18th in the Premier League table and were thumped 3-0 at West Brom in their only away game in the League, although that was a flattering scoreline for the Baggies.
One thing that defeat at the Hawthornes can't hide is the fact that Liverpool have now won just 3 of their last 12 away games in the Premier League and they have lost 8 of those games. Liverpool have also failed to score in half of their last 12 away games and they don't have a lot of options in that area if Luis Suarez cannot get things done.
Lucas is a long-term absentee for Brendan Rodgers, but Joe Cole and Jose Enrique could recover from knocks in time to take their place in the squad.
Head to Head
Sunderland earned 4 points from their League games against Liverpool last season, including a 1-0 win here at the Stadium of Light.
There have been 8 League games played in Sunderland since they last shared the points and Liverpool have won 5 of those.
However, Sunderland have won 2 of the last 3, both by a 1-0 scoreline.
Prediction
If you want a prediction with much more 'bottle' then I don't think you can wrong and back LAMPS suggestion on the home win- games between the two teams, especially here in the North East, see a winner and there has only been 1 draw in 14 League games that Sunderland have hosted.
I also favour Sunderland in this game and find it very surprising that Liverpool are as short as they are, despite being odds against... Personally, I think the wrong side is set as the favourite as the layers give nothing away on the 'big name' playing away from home.
As I said, LAMPS suggestion on the home win at a big price looks worthy of a small interest, but I am going to play things a little safer (lack of bottle) and pick Sunderland + 0.25 on the Asian Handicap.
That will at least give me a half winner if the game ends in a draw and that is possible if Liverpool have more composure in front of goal as Sunderland are not as free-scoring as some teams in the League. The Reds did create a lot of chances at West Brom and on another day they would have won that game, but they haven't had a great time here in the last three seasons and so I'll stick with the home side on the handicap.
That is being priced at odds against so it will be my call.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland 1-0 Liverpool
