Sunderland vs Bournemouth Betting Tips

Where do you start with Sunderland? On odd occasions they look like a team capable of finishing outside of the bottom three, but then the next week you see them collapse under the slightest bit of pressure.

They have managed to get two wins in their last five matches, but both have been against out of form relegation candidates, with Aston Villa losing 3-1 and Swansea taking a 4-2 battering.

But their three defeats have seen them perform very poorly. Last weekend Spurs beat them 4-1, and they have fallen to defeats seven times in their last nine matches in all competitions.

Their problem is very much defensive, and Sam Allardyce has seen his team concede 22 goals in their last nine matches.

Big Sam will have been hoping that Bournemouth’s new striker Benik Afobe would miss out for this game then, but unfortunately for him it looks like he’ll make the grade. The powerful, pacey striker could have a field day against the Sunderland defence.

Afobe managed to grab his first Bournemouth goal last weekend as they beat Norwich comprehensively, and they looked very impressive in that 3-0 win.

This was Bournemouth’s 5^th win in their last 11 matches in all competitions, with three of those coming on the road. They have only lost twice during this period as well, and they look to have put that poor spell of form well and truly behind them.

Both teams have a lot of incentive to win this game. Sunderland sit down in 19^th position and are four points adrift of safety. They definitely don’t want that gap to widen any more.

Bournemouth are outside of the relegation zone, but their three point cushion over the relegation zone is anything but safe.

I think Bournemouth have the quality and confidence to win this one on Saturday, and the fitness of Afobe will be a huge boost for them. They are away from home though, so I’m backing a Bournemouth Draw No Bet at 8/11 along with a 3-1 correct score prediction at 22/1.