Sunderland v Stoke City
Football: England, Premier League 2009/2010
Monday, 1st February 2010 - Kickoff 8pm

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Sunderland

Not too long ago, pundits were discussing the possibility of Sunderland gate crashing a European place at the end of the season, but a terrible run of form has seen them exit the FA Cup and begin falling perilously close to the relegation zone.

Steve Bruce will be hoping his side can improve on their 13th position and more importantly their points total as they are currently only 3 points better off than Burnley in 18th spot. Sunderland will be hoping their home form can keep them up this season and they are 5-3-2 at the Stadium of Light, scoring 18 goals and conceding 13.

As mentioned, Sunderland have been on a terrible run and actually only have 2 wins in their last 16 games in all competitions, and 1 of those was against non-league Barrow at home. They have failed to win any of their last 9 games in the Premier League and only have 1 win from their last 13 League games. The Black Cats are better at home with only 1 defeat in their last 6 there in all competitions although wins have been difficult to come by.

Lee Cattermole and Kieron Richardson will need late fitness tests before this match. There are still many problems for Steve Bruce in defence with Anton Ferdinand, Michael Turner and Phil Bardsley all still missing.

Stoke City

Stoke City are another side that have not been on the best of form recently although results have picked up in the last couple of weeks rounded off with a hugely inspirational 3-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup last week.

Stoke actually sit one place better off than their opponents in 12th and are also 2 points better off. They have relied heavily on their form at the Brittania Stadium, as they did last season, to ensure survival and the bulk of their points are picked up at home. The Potters are 1-4-5 away from home with the worst goal tally of 4 although they have only conceded 13. This defensive record away from home is the 3rd best in the Premier League behind Chelsea and Manchester United.

They have won 3 of their last 4 games in all competitions, drawing the other, which stopped a run of 4 defeats from 5 games before that. Stoke have failed to win any of their last 6 games away from home in all competitions and have failed to find the net in their last 4.

Tony Pulis has a full strength squad to choose from with the return of Abdoulaye Faye to the squad.

Head to Head

Stoke won the meeting between the 2 sides earlier this season 1-0 at the Brittania Stadium.

The corresponding fixture ended 2-0 to Sunderland last season.

The 3 games the teams have played since Stoke returned to the Premier League have all ended with 2 goals or less.

Prediction

Sunderland need to reverse the momentum that has sent them heading for the relegation zone and will look to do that as soon as possible. This is a game they will see as one where they can pick up the 3 points.

Stoke City play strongly at home, proving tough to beat there, but find it much tougher on their travels, simply failing to score enough goals. It will be interesting to see how Tony Pulis approches this game as Sunderland have been struggling defensively, but I feel Stoke will be happy with anything they can get here.

I had a sneaky feeling Sunderland will win this game, but I will play the under 2.5 goals option, which in my opinion is the 'safer' option. Sunderland are struggling so will have a keen mind to keep a clean sheet at least and secure a goal while Stoke struggle to score away from home. This game could possibly be decided by just 1 goal.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Sunderland 1-0 Stoke City

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Under 2.5 goals