Sunderland v West Ham Betting Tips

Sunderland remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, 10 points adrift of Hull and safety, after they suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Man Utd last time out; a run of six losses in seven winless games will do little to boost the spirits of the Stadium of Light faithful ahead of this weekend’s clash against West Ham. The Hammers did well to end their five-match losing streak with a 1-0 win over Swansea last weekend, having looked like they could turn into surprise relegation candidates.

The Black Cats have not won any of their last seven at home, four of which they’ve lost, and in the last five of those seven games they’ve not scored at all – in fact, they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in 10 of their last 11 at all venues. The visitors will be without Mark Noble and Michail Antonio, out through suspension and injury respectively, and the latter will be a particularly big absence – they’ve not won any of the last eight he’s failed to start, scoring only six goals across those games. That being said, the Hammers have won seven of nine games this term against bottom-five sides, keeping a clean sheet in five, and they’ve lost only to Hull at the KCOM among such teams.

While we’re tempted to back the visitors against a hapless Sunderland outfit, the absence of two key players means we don’t have confidence in them to win. However, given the paucity of goals from both these teams in recent weeks and given team news, Under 2.5 is a decent shout.