Sunderland vs Liverpool Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Sunderland’s year didn’t get any better on the last day of 2016. In fact, their 4-1 hammering at Burnley could potentially be their lowest point of the season so far, with that loss making it four from their last five matches and leaving them deep in relegation trouble.

Defensively they remain completely out of their depth, with their 35 goals conceded being the 3rd most in the league. That’s not good news coming up against the Premier League’s top scorers this season.

At home Sunderland have definitely improved recently, winning three of their last four and losing just once. However, all those wins came against struggling opposition, and Liverpool will be a completely different test for the hosts.

They did manage to rather stifle the game at Anfield earlier in the season though. They only lost 2-0 and were described by Jurgen Klopp as ‘The most defensive side he ever saw.” They also held Chelsea to one goal at home earlier in December, but there is a chance that the 4-1 thrashing at the weekend will sink their confidence to a new low.

Liverpool aren’t exactly low on confidence though. Even away from home they look excellent, apart from the freak 4-3 loss to Bournemouth at the start of the month. Overall they have won eight, drawn two, and lost two of their 12 away days in all competitions.

Their confidence will have grown even further after their 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday evening. They looked fairly comfortable containing the visiting Manchester City throughout, and whilst it wasn’t the most high quality of games, Jurgen Klopp will be extremely pleased with how his team played.

In terms of attacking threat Liverpool possess a huge number of assets. Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino have 21 league goals between them this season, but with three of Lallana and Mane’s coming away from home either of these look good choices for the anytime goalscorer predictions.

I expect David Moyes will be keen to perform better defensively than they managed at the weekend, and as such I’m expecting a very defensively minded setup from him. Sunderland have only lost two of their nine home games this season by more than a single goal, whilst Liverpool have only won two of their ten away days by two or more goals. This, combined with the defensive approach from Sunderland, means that backing Sunderland +1.5 Asian Handicap Win at 1.900 looks a good choice. I’m going with that alongside a 2-1 win for Liverpool at 15/2 for my correct score predictions.