West Ham United vs Sunderland Predictions

• West Ham are winless in six at home across all competitions.
• Sunderland have five draws in their last seven games.
• Both teams have scored in each of West Ham’s last three games.

Sunderland head to West Ham for early kick off

West Ham host Sunderland in the early Premier League game on Saturday in a clash that may prove to be one for the purists.

The Hammers picked up a vital win at Tottenham last time out but they remain deep in trouble as they are five points adrift of safety going into this round of fixtures.

Sunderland sit on 33 points and Europe is back in their sights after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace last time out.

A win could be huge for West Ham but Sunderland may settle for a point, which would keep them a healthy 16 points clear of the bottom three, and visiting manager Regis Le Bris will probably set his team up to keep things as tight as possible so goalmouth action may be at a premium in the capital.

Spoils could be shared at London Stadium

There is a good chance that this game will finish level and backing the draw looks the best angle for our main bet, as there is little value in the double chance market with this fixture.

Sunderland are the division’s draw specialists with nine of their 22 games finishing level, including four of their last six, and they would probably view a point as a positive result on Saturday.

West Ham have picked up just seven points from their 11 home games, losing eight of those fixtures, but they should draw confidence from their win at Spurs and they are facing a Sunderland side who have won just twice on their travels in the league.

Low scoring draw the pick

This fixture could be a good game for an under 2.5 goals bet as both of these teams score on average just over one goal per-game and there have been fewer than three goals scored in five of Sunderland’s last seven league games. I’m opting for a 1-1 draw rather than a bore draw, on the basis that both teams have scored in West Ham’s last three games in all competitions and in three of Sunderland’s last four.

If West Ham are to pull off a great escape they need their key men to step up and Jarrod Bowen can make an impact with a goal on Saturday. Bowen has six goals to his name this season and he’s scored in two of the Hammers’ last four home games in the league, so he looks a contender for an anytime effort against the Black Cats.