Football – England – Premier League
Saturday 25th April 2015 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Despite holding home advantage last Saturday against Southampton, it was nevertheless a good result for The Potters when they beat The Saints 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium which broke Stoke’s run of four matches without a win.
Previous defeats to West Brom, Crystal Palace and Chelsea along with a draw against West Ham had threatened Mark Hughes’ side’s chances of a top half finish, but the win over Southampton will have given the hosts a welcome boost ahead of the visit of Sunderland this afternoon.
Stoke have registered some important home wins in recent weeks too as they’ve beaten the likes of QPR, Hull City, Everton and Southampton and they’ve won four of their last six at the Britannia Stadium within an overall home record of 8-2-6 22/20.
Likely anytime goalscorers for the hosts look to be Diouf, Walters, Crouch and midfielder Adam.
Sunderland reverted to type two weeks ago when they slumped to a 4-1 home defeat to a resurgent Crystal Palace which must have been a bitter disappointment following their 1-0 derby win over north-east rivals Newcastle United the week beforehand.
That’s now three defeats from their last four for the Black Cats who are being dragged back into the relegation dogfight that’s being fought out at the foot of the table. Sunderland are now just two league positions but one point ahead of third from bottom club Leicester City as they make their way down to Stoke this Saturday.
Sunderland’s away form has also dipped in recent weeks as they’ve failed to win in their last seven road trips amidst an overall record of 2-7-6 11/22 and failing to score on eight occasions on their travels so far this season.
Stoke have been in reasonable form on home turf and given Sunderland’s goalscoring difficulties on the road, I’ll hand the advantage to Stoke who could nick this perhaps 1-0.
Pick: Stoke City straight win @ 1.95 bet365
