Sunderland v Everton – Stadium of Light at 20:00 live on Sky Sports 1
Sam Allardyce looks to maintain his record of never being relegated from the Premier League this evening as Sunderland welcome Everton to the Stadium of Light. A win will secure another season in England’s top division for the Black Cats, sending Norwich and arch rivals Newcastle down to the Championship along with already relegated Aston Villa.
Sunderland are no strangers to a relegation dog-fight, but always seem to hit a bit of form at the right time. Two seasons ago they looked dead and buried before earning 13 points from a possible 15 to assure another season in the top flight.
It was the same last year, but a win against rivals Newcastle sparked a revival, to go unbeaten in 5 and begin this campaign in the BPL.
Now, the Black Cats are on a run of just 1 loss in 9 and draws against the likes of Southampton and Arsenal, along with wins over Norwich and last weekends 3-2 victory over Chelsea leaves them just one win away from safety.
The win over the Blues shows just how much fight Sunderland have in them, going down 1-0 and 2-1 before 2 goals in as many minutes from Borini and the in-form Jermain Defoe won them the game.
Big Sam has to be given a lot of credit since taking over from Dick Advocaat in October, making the Wearsider’s a tough team beat. He fully deserves to be there next season, leading the Black Cats into another season in the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Roberto Martinez, it looks unlikely he’ll be at Everton next term, after a very inconsistent and ultimately, unsuccessful season. A loss this evening would mean a second successive season finishing in the bottom half which is just not good enough for a squad that has the quality it does.
The Toffee’s have finished the campaign very poorly, picking up just one win from their last 9. Their away form had been fairly respectable in the first half of the year, but with just 2 wins in their last 9 road matches, it’s now less than respectable as the season draws to a close.
Everton have lost their last 2 away league matches, conceding 7, scoring just once. One of those losses included the Merseyside derby, one of the poorest performances I have seen from Everton this season.
Sunderland come into the match as 1.75 favourites, which looking at the table seems short, however on recent form, it’s probably about right. It will attract a lot of punters as Sunderland have a lot to fight for, but I can’t get involved at that price.
For my recommendation I’m turning to the goals markets, as I’m expecting this to be quite a low scoring match and there is some value of the Asian lines.
Everton have managed just 2 goals in their last 5 away games and just 4 of Sunderland’s last 13 matches at the Stadium of Light have seen Over 2.5 goals. Also, prior to the Chelsea match, Sunderland had failed to score in their last 3 home matches.
Asian Handicap Betting Recommendation: Under 2.75 at 1.95
Prices correct at time of writing.
By @SC457.
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