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West Ham and Sunderland will square off in London knowing that the game has huge implications in the relegation battle. The hosts are on the 17th place with 13 points while Sunderland is still at the bottom of the table with only 8 points, struggling to overcome the horrific legacy of Paolo Di Canio.
West Ham made some interesting signings in the off season and was hoping for a worry – free year, but things have not worked out so far and the hosts will surely be in the relegation mix until the end of the season. United has been especially poor in the last few games. West Ham has failed to win in 6 of the last 7 Premier League game, scoring only 5 goals in the process. Three of those goals came against Fulham in their only recent win three rounds ago (3-0). The home side also lost 4 out of their last 5 games, so their form is really poor at the moment. West Ham United has scored just 13 goals this season and won only 2 of their 7 home games.
Sunderland had one of the worst starts in Premier League history and is still struggling to gain points after Paolo Di Canio`s sacking. However, one can see a clear improvement in the visitor`s matches since Gus Poyet took over. Looking at Sunderland`s last 8 matches you can see wins over Manchester City, Newcastle or Southampton. All their losses have been close recently and against very solid opposition. In the last two rounds, Sunderland put in some great performances against Chelsea and Tottenham, only to come up short at the end (3-4 and 1-2). The visitors have the worst offence in the Premier League (just 10 goals scored).
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Team news & lineups
West Ham is in a bit of an injury crisis for this one, missing Carroll, Petric, Reid, Vaz Te, Downing and Nolan. Sunderland only has Westwood unavailable, while Cuellar is questionable.
West Ham: Jaaskelainen – Demel, Collins, Tomkins, McCartney – Noble, Diame – Cole, Morrison, Jarvis – Maiga
Sunderland: Mannone – Celustka, O’Shea, Brown, Bardsley – Larsson, Ki, Colback, Johnson – Altidore, Fletcher
The under looks pretty good here on paper, but with Sunderland in bad need of points they will surely come here to win, so we could actually have an entertaining game – particularly with the visitors scoring a lot lately.
I am looking for Sunderland to win or draw here. The way West Ham has been playing lately, they are not worthy of being priced at evens against any Premier League opponent and I find the odds on the visitors to be value. Sunderland has played pretty good in the last couple of games, they are due to get a result soon and what better chance than against struggling West Ham? Expect the hosts to struggle a lot in front of goal (again), especially with Downing now added to the injury list. Home court advantage did not help United too much this season, so even though Sunderland is still winless on the road (0-2-5) they will be confident of their chances to get something in London. Sunderland is in better form and has played better football lately, no doubt in my mind that this is a value bet at these odds, as Sunderland clearly has over 55% chances to get a result here. Take Sunderland or draw double chance (+0,5 handicap). My pick is West Ham United – Sunderland 1-2.
Pick: Sunderland (+0,5)
Odds: 1.93 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.44
Event date: 14 December
Editor Facts
- Rostick is 2 for 4 in picks involving Sunderland this season
