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Sunderland will hope to continue its great form when hosting a struggling Stoke City side at the Stadium of Light in the 23rd round of the Premier League.
After a horrific start to the season, Sunderland sacked Di Canio, brought in Gus Poyet and the team shortly recovered to play better and better. Right now Sunderland is one of the most in-form teams in the Premier League, playing top 10 material football. The stats speak for themselves, Sunderland lost just twice in the last 12 games and one of those losses was more than sweet, that 2-1 defeat to United which saw them advance to the League Cup final. The hosts won 4 of their last 6 games. However, Di Canio`s legacy is still hunting Sunderland, as the team is still in the relegation zone, but a win today will see them leave the bottom 3 for the first time this season, so stakes are high. Sunderland is on the back of a 1-0 win against Kidderminster in the FA Cup, resting almost all their starters.
Stoke is in horrible form at the moment, as Mark Hughes is again proving that his managerial skills are questionable. After taking over from Tony Pulis, Hughes changed the physical style of play that Stoke had, and though he had some success at the beginning, the team is now slowly slipping to the relegation zone. Stoke is on 14th place, just 4 points above Sunderland and the visitors gained a single point in the last 5 rounds, a timespan in which they lost to Crystal Palace and conceded goals from Newcastle, Tottenham and Liverpool. Stoke is also on a 3 match losing streak in all competitions, so their form really could not be worse. The last defeat came against Chelsea over the weekend in the FA Cup (0-1).
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Team news & lineups
Long term absentees Westwood and Cuellar are the only squad problems for Sunderland aside from Dossena, who is questionable. Stoke has Pieters and Guidetti doubtful, while Huth, Etherington and Wilkinson will definitely miss the game. City just signed Peter Odemwingie in exchange for Kenwyne Jones, but the nigerian will most likely only get a few minuted of play, if any.
Sunderland: Mannone – Bardsley, O’Shea, Brown, Alonso – Johnson, Cattermole, Ki, Colback – Borini – Fletcher
Stoke: Begovic – Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters – Walters, Nzonzi, Ireland, Assaidi, Arnautovic – Crouch
Sunderland is a really solid favorite to take this. They are so much more in-form than Stoke and playing so much better, plus they have the always important home court advantage. Not lastly, Sunderland will be the fresher of the two sides after resting its starters in the weekend, while Stoke could not field the second team against Chelsea. Stoke defeated Sunderland 2-0 earlier in the season but the situation of the two teams is radically different right now. No way should Sunderland be priced over 2.00 here, and the odds provide us with clear value. The hosts defend pretty well so they could keep a clean sheet, and they will surely get their chances up front against a Stoke side that is horrific at the back right now. My tip is Sunderland to win this and odds are slightly dropping on this pick. Prediction for this one: Sunderland – Stoke City 2-0.
Pick: Sunderland
Odds: 2.15 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 9.20
Event date: 29 January
