Monday night football looks intriguing in the Championship as Sunderland welcome West Brom. James Cantrill picks out two best bets.
Football betting tips: Sunderland v West Brom
2pts Both teams to score at 17/20 (William Hill)
0.5pts Amad Diallo anytime goalscorer at 11/2 (Betfair Sportsbook, Paddy Power)
2017 was the last time these sides met domestically, January 21.
Tony Pulis’s West Brom side sat 8th in the Premier League and cruised to a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from club legend Chris Brunt and Darren Fletcher.
The Baggies side also featured Ben Foster, Craig Dawson, Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli.
Sunderland were spearheaded by Jermain Defore, who scored 15 times that campaign, and he had a supporting cast of Adnan Januzaj, Jack Rodwell, remember him, and Sebastian Larsson.
The Black Cats were propping up the table, and that is where they remained come final day.
Amazing to think how much has happened in five years.
WBA suffered two relegations to go with a promotion and Sunderland eventually wound up in the second tier via League One.
And that is where they meet on Monday evening, the Championship, for only the third time in the clubs' histories.
Kick-off time: 20:00 GMT, Monday
TV Channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Sunderland 2/1 | Draw 9/4 | West Brom 7/5
The hosts' World Cup-induced break was cut short a week early, not that they would have minded, beating Millwall 3-0 at the Stadium of Light last Saturday.
Amed Diallo, Ellis Simms and Alex Pritchard were among the goals, and it was the latter who shone in attacking midfield.
Those three points put Tony Mowbray’s side within three points of Watford in 4th.
Carlos Corberan’s West Brom looked to have turned a corner coming into the break, with maximum points from three games, keeping three clean sheets.
The Baggies will be bolstered by the return of Daryl Dike, whose stint in Black Country has been riddled with injury but could be set for his first league start of the season.
The USA international took to life across the pond like a duck to water when he joined Barnsley in January 2021, scoring nine goals in half a season, and will be hoping to rediscover that form here.
I think these sides are more evenly matched than the odds suggest.
At around 2/1, Sunderland look large, though their record against the league's better sides is a worry. Against the current top six, the Black Cats have only picked up two points in six games, though these clashes have been good for goals.
Against the big boys, Sunderland matches have averaged 3.25 goals with BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE clicking in two-thirds of those.
Although West Brom have not conceded a goal in three games, the underlying data suggest they have been slightly fortunate, shipping an xG of 1.72 across those matches.
Since joining on loan from Manchester United, AMAD DIALLO has had a direct hand in five goals, all of which coming in his last six starts.
He has found the net four times over that period, including a goal in each of his last two appearances, racking up 14 shots in total.
He has averaged 0.49 goals per 90, building on the 0.78 he averaged when he was north of the border with Rangers, and based on that statistic alone, he could be as short as evens here.
Obviously, it is a very small sample size as Diallo has only made 31 professional appearances, yet with the form he is in, I fancy him to add to his tally here, especially at the prices available.
Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power have him at 11/2 TO SCORE ANYTIME, which seems huge considering the same bet is as short as 14/5 elsewhere.
Sunderland v West Brom best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Both teams to score at 17/20 (William Hill)
- 0.5pts Amad Diallo anytime goalscorer at 11/2 (Betfair Sportsbook, Paddy Power)
Score prediction: Sunderland 1-1 West Brom (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 1200 GMT (09/12/22)
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