Sunderland Host Burnley In Premier League Safety Scrap

Sixteenth plays 17th as Sunderland host Burnley at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. Both have accumulated 20 points so far this season and are one point above the dreaded drop zone. Whilst the winner of this match-up will pull themselves clear of those teams at the foot of the table, quite feasibly moving as high as 14th, the loser could be occupying one of the three relegation places should other results go against them.

The last time these two teams met in the Premier League was back in September, neither side being able to break the deadlock in the goalless draw at Turf Moor. A number of bookmakers are offering the best price of 23/10 on the two teams playing out another draw this afternoon whilst 8/1 (bet365, Coral, sportingbet, william hill) says that the clash will end without a goal once again.

Sunderland have been installed as the 11/8 favourites at Betvictor, though Burnley are available at the best price of 13/5 (betfred, ladbrokes, Totesport) to take all three points away from home. Such an outcome wouldn`t be too much of a surprise, however, the Black Cats last recording a home top tier win against Stoke back at the beginning of October.

From these seven home games since this victory, Sunderland have picked up just three points following draws with Everton (1-1), Chelsea (0-0) and West Ham United (1-1). Sebastian Larsson put the North East club in front against the Toffees, whilst Jordi Gomez converted a penalty to see Gus Poyet`s men go in front against the Hammers. These goals have been just two of four scored at the Stadium of Light in the seven games subsequent to the 3-1 Stoke City win. Adam Johnson hitting the back of the net in the first 60 seconds in his side`s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Hull and Connor Wickham putting them in front against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

Sunderland capitulated against City to lose 4-1.

As a result of this profligacy at home, punters can get a price of 13/8 (Coral) on the Stadium of Light outfit hitting the back of the net over 1.5 times. Betvictor`s 9/5 says that the Tyneside club will score exactly one goal.

In contrast, Burnley`s away form has improved, collecting five points from a maximum of fifteen from their last five games and scoring in all but one of these encounters. The only match in which they failed to score was in a 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers QPR.

Three men have scored all of Burnley`s seven goals in these matches (they also had help from Paul Dummett who put the ball into the back of his own net in the 3-3 draw against Newcastle). Danny Ings was on target three times in these clashes whilst both Ashley Barnes and George Boyd managed to score two.

Ings can be backed at 23/10 (Betbright, betfair) to score at any time this afternoon with Barnes and Boyd priced up at 7/2 (Betvictor) and 5/1 (bet365) respectively.

Top scorer Ings scored a brace against Stoke in his side`s 2-1 away win and is available at 14/1 with paddy Power and unibet to hit the back of the net at least twice against Sunderland. The former Championship Player of the Year is apparently a transfer target for both Liverpool and La Liga`s Real Sociedad.

Sean Dyche is not anticipated to make any changes to his starting line-up whilst the Mackems will be able to welcome back centre-back Wes Brown and Hull City goal hero Adam Johnson both of whom having recovered from injuries.

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31/01/2015     © Frixo 2026