Sunderland vs Chelsea Betting Odds, Preview & Tips – 10.09.11

Premier League Betting

Sunderland v Chelsea Betting Tip & Odds: Chelsea’s mega millions forward attack is strong favourite to come out on top here, and they have a good record away at Sunderland. So that is something to put in the bag. Sunderland are struggling up front, and need new boy Bendtner to fit right in straight away. Chelsea haven’t clicked up front yet, but have more pace and power than Sunderland, and should get through this. It could be a close affair so therefore, we are taking a Chelsea -1 Asian Handicap for 5/4 at Victor Chandler.

Sunderland to win: 9/2 at Totesport
Draw: 11/4 at Bet365
Chelsea to win: 8/11 at SkyBet

EPL Match Preview: An interesting match up here, as Sunderland’s rather limp attack goes up against Chelsea’s which has not been firing on all cylinders either. Chelsea, throughout Premier League history, have held a big upper hand over the Black Cats. The two sides traded away wins with each other last season, and both sides are looking for some fluency and creativity and focus up front. Chelsea of course almost are spoilt for choice as to what attacking line up they can put out, while Sunderland have more limited resources, and have had to turn to a loan move for Nicklas Bendtner for support. Although Chelsea haven’t been playing with any fluency yet, boss Andre Villas Boas is confident that the Stamford Bridge crew are going in the right direction and have brought in more players to try and force that home. It now becomes a task of man management for Villas Boas, trying to keep everyone happy. It is like we are waiting for things to happen from both clubs. Sunderland to break out of their shell, and for Chelsea to rediscover and touch on the potency that they have in their squad. Will it be another day of misfires where defences are on top? Or will something click into place for one of these two sides?

Sunderland Form: It has been a barren season for Sunderland so far. Boss Steve Bruce has been left pondering missed chances as his side have totally misfired up front all season. Their 1-0 defeat to Brighton in the Carling Cup did not go down well either, because chances were created but not taken. Sunderland have scored just one goal in their three Premier League matches so far this season, that coming in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool on the opening day. A following defeat at home to Newcastle and then a 0-0 away at Swansea hasn’t left Sunderland in too good of a shape. It is a little surprising that they have gotten off to such a sluggish start, because Bruce was one of the most active managers in the transfer market over the summer. He did pick up some youngsters for the future over the summer but they need help now. Having lost the services of Fraizer Campbell, plus losing Danny Welbeck back to his parent club Manchester United, Sunderland have been left a bit short up front. Bruce has been wanting someone else up front to carry the duties, and he has drafted in Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner to bolster the attack. The loan move was timed just right, as striker Asamoah Gyan will miss the Chelsea match after picking up an injury while on international duty. Bendtner will bring a bit of size up front for Sunderland, a bit of a target man, but who also has some decent skills on the deck. Sunderland need an injection of quality from somewhere up front, and Bendtner, who has become surplus to requirements at Arsenal, should walk straight into the starting line up at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. It is not quite panic button hitting time yet for Sunderland, but the Black Cats need goals to come soon. There is nothing too much wrong in defence for Sunderland, as Bruce made sure that he stiffened things up at the back, but they could be without John O’Shea on Saturday because of injury.

Chelsea Form: It has been something of a moderate and understated start to the new season for Chelsea under new boss Andre Villas Boas. The Blues have not exactly set the league on fire at all, and some of the problems from last season still seem to be carrying over. This is notably the lack of clear cut chances in a game, and raising their tempo to try and overpower opponents. Villas Boas did make a transfer move at the deadline, but it wasn’t Luka Modric from Tottenham, instead Villas Boas drafted in Liverpool’s Raul Meireles instead. Meireles could be a big impact player for Chelsea off the bench in pressing forward. In comparison to their high scoring title rivals Manchester United and Manchester City, Chelsea have only hit five goals in their opening three matches. There has just been a severe lack of fluency to Chelsea’s play, the midfield and the forwards just have not been linking up too well at all. But changes for the better could be coming as new players get settled. Chelsea did pick up Juan Mata, who scored on his debut against Norwich after coming on as a substitute. The Blues will be without Didier Drogba who picked up a concussion in that game against Norwich, but they do get Daniel Sturridge back to full fitness. Also coming back to full health is Petr Cech who picked up knee ligament damage in the pre-season. Chelsea do have plenty of options going forward, but they still don’t look to be settled into playing the way that Villas Boas would like. There is certainly room for improvement. Striker Fernando Torres, who has looked sharper this season but is still without a goal, was dropped from Spain’s match day squad to face Liechtenstein in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. So there is a little bit of a lack of confidence up front, so Villas Boas may be tempted to ring fresh changes with the likes of Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku. Somehow he will have to keep everyone happy, and he must be banking on players trying extra hard to keep their places in the starting line up.

Head to Head: This fixture has not been profitable for Sunderland through recent history. Yes, there was the famous away victory at Stamford Bridge last season, but that has left Sunderland with a record of just one win in the last thirteen matches against Chelsea. There have been 56 meetings between the two sides at Sunderland, with the Black Cats winning 30, Chelsea 17 and 9 draws. The last time Sunderland beat Chelsea at home though was back in the 2000/01 season when a 1-0 win brought them three points. In the overall head to head, Chelsea have a 46% win percentage compared to Sunderland’s 34%. In last year’s corresponding fixture, Chelsea ran out 4-2 winners. It has been six straight wins at Sunderland for Chelsea now.

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