Sunderland v West Brom: Goals a staple in this fixture
Published:West Brom make the trip to Wearside fresh off the back of beating Chelsea in their last outing. Couple this with the fact that they have avoided defeat in their last five meetings with Sunderland and you needn’t bother asking Hercule Poirot if they’ll be travelling in good spirits.
Steve Clarke’s appointment led many to assume that disaster was on the horizon at the Hawthorns but after years of being the dependable bridesmaid, the Scot is demonstrating that he’s just as good a bride. Three straight wins see the Albion head to the Stadium of Light priced at just 15/8 to bring home the bacon.
Unlike his predecessor, Clarke has been an advocate of an attacking approach to games, where they have looked particularly dangerous hitting teams on the break as Southampton, in particular, will attest.
They’ve got bags of pace up top in Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long, with Romelu Lukaku providing the brawn, West Brom are a match for any defence and only Fulham have prevented them finding the back of the net this term.
Only one clean sheet in their last seven Premier League outings, however, suggests that some of the defensive stability that Roy Hodgson prided himself on has been sacrificed but this has made for plenty of goal-filled Baggies games.
Five of their last six have yielded over 2.5 goals, while six of the last seven renewals of this fixture have produced the same result.
The Black Cats looked to have fought off some of their goal-scoring demons at Craven Cottage last time out where they slammed three past Mark Schwarzer in the Fulham onion bag – expect more goals here.
The two clashes last season produced eight goals and a price of 10/11 says there’s going to be more than 2.5 registered in this one, while the 3/1 on offer for the score draw represents great value.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
