Southampton vs Sunderland Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Southampton earned a more than respectable point at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon as they continue their excellent Premier League form. They actually led through the in form Nathan Redmond but couldn’t hold Manchester City off for the full 90 minutes. A point is still a very good result though.

This followed on from their undeserved defeat at Inter Milan in midweek, but it did extend their domestic unbeaten streak to six matches in the Premier League and the League Cup, with four of those being victories.

Southampton’s defence has been a major driving force behind their success, but there are a couple of players up the other end of the pitch doing their jobs well. Redmond got a goal at the weekend to take his tally to two for the season, whilst Charlie Austin is the main threat with seven goals in all competitions, one of which was in the League Cup. Six of these seven goals have come at St. Mary’s as well, so he’s going to be a huge threat to the lackluster, at best, Sunderland defence. Backing him to score anytime at 20/21 could prove very profitable.

Sunderland lost again at the weekend as they visited the out of form West Ham and came away empty handed. This saw them remain the only side in the Premier League without a league win to their name, and they remain bottom of the table with just two points from their nine games. They are already five points adrift of safety.

Their defence has long been under scrutiny for their innate ability to turn half decent centre backs into awful footballers, but this season their attack has faltered too. They have netted just nine goals in their 11 competitive games this term, and away from home they have managed just four in six, with Jermain Defoe bagging two of them.

This isn’t good news when they’re facing a Southampton side who have kept six clean sheets in their last nine outings in all competitions. This included their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in the League Cup, and at home they have conceded just three goals in their six matches this season. Odds of 5/4 for Southampton to Win to Nil look good value, especially since Sunderland have failed to score in their last two outings as well. I’m going for a 2-0 correct score prediction at 11/2 as well.