Two clubs separated only by three points in the Premier League table meet at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night as sixth-placed Liverpool travels to ninth-placed Sunderland.
Liverpool’s hopes of a top-four finish were dealt a blow at the weekend, as they suffered a rare defeat at home to Manchester City in what was a truly dramatic finish.
Arne Slot’s men have now won just one of their previous seven Premier League encounters (W1-D4-L2), leaving them in sixth position in the table, four points behind fifth-placed Chelsea and now five behind rivals Manchester United in fourth.
Sunderland’s away-day misery continued at the weekend, as they were comfortably beaten 3-0 at the Emirates by Premier League leaders Arsenal.
However, the Black Cats’ 3-0 victory over fellow promoted side Burnley the game before preserved their unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light since their long-awaited return to the English top flight (W7-D5-L0).
How the bookies view it: Liverpool favourites
Despite winning just one of their previous seven Premier League fixtures, Liverpool travel to the North East of England as favourites, with bet365 pricing an away success at just 7/10.
Sunderland are 15/4 to record a third consecutive home win this season and eighth overall at the Stadium of Light, whilst the draw is 14/5.
Head to head: 11 unbeaten for Liverpool
Liverpool are unbeaten in each of their previous 11 Premier League meetings with Sunderland (W6-D5-L0), but three of the past four have ended in a stalemate, including a 1-1 draw at Anfield in the reverse fixture in December.
Players to watch: Go with the flo
After his big-money move in the summer from Bayer Leverkusen, Florian Wirth has felt it tough since moving to the Premier League, but in recent matches, he seems as if he’s finally beginning to settle in.
The German attacker has scored four goals and provided two assists across his previous nine Premier League appearances for the Reds, and he is priced at 5/4 at bet365 for another goal contribution.
Predicted line-ups:
Sunderland will still be without the injured trio of Granit Xhaka, Jocelin Ta Bi and Bertrand Traore
Liverpool will still be missing Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak through injury, Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended following his red card at the weekend, whilst Joe Gomez is a doubt.
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinaldo, Diarra, Sadiki, Hume, Le Fee, Talbi, Brobbey
Liverpool: Alisson, Jones, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, MacAllister, Wirtz, Gakpo, Salah, Ekiteke
Anything else catch the eye?
Liverpool are unconvincing favourites against a team that has yet to lose all season, meaning I’m more than happy to stick with goals.
Liverpool’s matches away from home in the Premier League this season have been high-scoring, with their opening 12 road trips averaging 3.33 goals per game, with Over 2.5 Goals paying out in nine (75%) of them – including in eight of their past 10 – whilst eight (67%) have produced goals at both ends.
Both Teams to Score has paid out in 7/9 (78%) of Sunderland’s home matches when excluding meetings with teams inside the relegation zone, whilst four of their last seven have gone Over 2.5 Goals.
Interested in why both teams scoring is such a strong angle? Check out our Masterclass on BTTS and sharpen your match-reading game.
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