STOKE CITY v SUNDERLAND
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday, February 4th, 2012, 3:00PM GMT

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PREVIEW

Martin O'Neill's revival of Sunderland continued with a resounding 3-0 win over Norwich, who are no pushovers, but I feel this will a tough encounter away from the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats travel to Stoke to face the Potters, who are without a win in 7 matches. They do however boast a great record against Sunderland when playing at home.

Sunderland won 4-0 against Stoke earlier this season, but Stoke had been involved in European competition, which was affecting their domestic form. Stoke have actually beaten Sunderland the last 4 times they've visited, including a 3-2 win in their last match here, despite Sunderland come back from deficits twice.

Goals look like they might be tough to come here, if the numbers are to be believed. Sunderland have conceded just 7 goals in their last 9 games, and have won their last 2 matches without conceding. Stoke will make their job easier if they continue the way they have, failing to score in 4 of their last 7.

Sunderland may well struggle to score here too, as Stoke will play with revenge on their minds, having shipped 4 at the Stadium of Light. Stoke are capable of shutting teams down quite well on their own patch, and the effort will be raised after they lost 2-0 to Manchester United in midweek. Sunderland have scored just 13 goals away from home all season.

BETTING VERDICT

This has the look of a 0-0 type stalemate, although the deadlock could be broken. I just can't see 3 goals being scored so will be a bit greedy and go for the Under 2 goals, which pays considerably more than Under 2.5

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Under 2 goals

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Under 2 goals to be scored @ 2.45 (Pinnacle)