Sunderland vs Chelsea betting preview

Sunderland Form: LDLWLL

Having one just two of their fourteen games this season, Sunderland find themselves just outside the relegation zone in 17^th position. They will be desperate for a morale boosting win against the Champions of Europe and Martin O’Neil will be relying heavily on Steven Fletcher to create problems for the opposition’s defensive line; he is their top league scorer this season with six goals – twice as many as any of his teammates. Sebastian Larsson is leading the way with assists this season with three, whilst Craig Gardner has two.  Getting goals has been hard for the team and having only found the net thirteen times and they are the second lowest scorers in the division. Choose a free bet for this match here.

Martin O’Neil must be getting worried as his team are definitely in a relegation scrap. He certainly has the experience to get his team playing again and the personnel do have the ability. If they were to string a couple of victories together then they would soon climb away from the lower end of the table. This may be hard with Chelsea and Manchester United in their next four games but, they do have some winnable fixtures against Reading and Southampton coming up as well.

Chelsea Form: WLDDLL

Chelsea achieved their first win or the Rafael Benitez’s reign by thrashing Nordsjaelland midweek in the Champions League. The game saw the return to goal scoring form of Fernando Torres whilst Mata and Moses had excellent games as part of the attacking three behind him. Oscar started on the bench and if Benitez’s rotation policy is maintained, then he will slot back into the starting line-up. Condemned to Thursday nights and the Europa League, Chelsea desperately need to pick up their domestic form or they will be slipping down the table and out of a much sought after Champions League qualification spot for next year’s competition.

Just under half of Chelsea’s games have gone over the 2.5 goal mark as they have gradually moved away from their early season attacking intent. The new manager favours a more conservative approach, forming a solid defensive unit and then looking to add goals. Mata is leading the Chelsea goal scoring chart in the league with five goals whilst the much criticised Fernando Torres has scored four this season in the Premiership. Both scored during the midweek European fixture and should be lively at the weekend.

Betting Preview

Both Sunderland and Chelsea have been suffering from a recent blight of poor form and the three points could go a long way to getting either sides aspirations back on track. Chelsea played fantastically in the first half against West Ham only to capitulate and concede three times after the interval. Conversely, Sunderland have been very slow starting this season but have tended to finish the game with a greater level of intensity. Craig Gardner has called for them to produce this intensity from the start of games and it will be a necessity if they are going to get anything out of the game. As poor as Chelsea have been of late, they still look likely to get the win and will have had a significant boost by their performance on Wednesday night. Torres is finally looking like he knows how to find the net again whilst Mata has been outstanding all season. Having said this, Chelsea have looked frail at the back this season, especially so in the air, and this is something that Steven Fletcher will look to exploit.  A 1-2 result looks likely with both teams able to score and Chelsea just shading it.

Highlighted Bets

Chelsea 2-1, 17/2 with StanJames

Torres to score and Chelsea to win, 11/4 with PaddyPower

Steven Fletcher first goal scorer, 7/1 with Bet365

Article by Ryan Moore

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