Middlesbrough v Sunderland
15:00
Middlesbrough’s time back in the top flight seems to be doomed to brevity: they suffered a 4-0 humbling at the Vitality Stadium against Bournemouth, and they now find themselves without a win in 16 league outings. They may, however, entertain hopes of overcoming Sunderland, the only team below them in the Premier League ladder, who have lost six of their last eight and failed to score in seven of these games – they, too, look destined for the drop.
Sunderland’s away form has been particularly woeful. Barring their astonishing 4-0 win at Crystal Palace, they’ve lost each of their last four away games to nil, and they’ve not fared well against bottom-five sides on the road, going winless in such fixtures. By contrast, Middlesbrough have picked up three wins against bottom-six sides this season, two of which were home wins to nil. Boro haven’t exactly thrived at home, but they’ve picked up points in three of their last five at home, losing only to Man United and Arsenal in that run and securing valuable draws against Everton and Leicester at the Riverside in their last seven there. As such, we think they have reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
Overall, we think this is going to be a tight, low-scoring affair. We haven’t been convinced enough of Middlesbrough’s home form to back them in the match outcome markets, but the fact that they’ve not scored more than one at home since December and the Black Cats’ scoring woes make us happy to back Unders here.
Betting intelligence provided by Football Form Labs
