WBA's last game against Fulham was one of the worst in the season so far, something normal considering these two teams are two of the worst in the league right now. WBA has a decent defense, but their midfield is lacking creativity, while their offense is also quite weak, with a completely past his prime Nicolas Anelka being their first option for the position. Anichebe already played at Fulham, but the truth is that WBA is still unimpressive on offense and if it wasn't for a goal on a corner in the 92th minute, they wouldn't have scored a single goal in four games!
Sunderland is coming from a normal home loss against Arsenal, but Di Canio's team created several scoring chances, while having more shots (18) than Arsenal (14), but Arsenal's individual talent made the difference at the end. Sunderland struggled on defense due to Arsenal's dynamic midfield, but that will happen to every non-top team that faces Arsenal this season. For this game, Sunderland will have two huge upgrades, as club captain John O'Shea returns from suspension, while Emmanuele Giaccherini returns from injury.
I can't accept WBA having almost 50% chances to win this game. Of course that on a lowly teams duel, the home court edge is important, but WBA's offense lacks the individual talent that Sunderland possesses, especially with Giaccherini back. The biggest edge that I see in here favoring WBA will be on set pieces plays, but with O'Shea back, I believe that Sunderland's defense will be successful in avoiding dangerous situations from this kind of plays. WBA is yet to have more than 50% ball possession on a game this season and so, on a home game against another lowly team, they will struggle in stepping into a role of having to control the game. Sunderland with more individual talent will explore WBA's problems on the midfield with counter moves with Giaccherini helping the super powerful striker Altidore, who will be a huge threat in here, with open space to explore. I believe Sunderland isn't going to lose this game and so, I'll be taking them in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on Sunderland (+0,5) @ -113 / 1.89 on Pinnacle OR -118 / 1.85 on 5Dimes
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on Sunderland (+0,5) @ -113 / 1.89 on Pinnacle OR -118 / 1.85 on 5Dimes
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