Chelsea V Sunderland Odds

Chelsea V Sunderland

Date & Kick-Off: Saturday, 14 January 2012 – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Preview

Goals are never in short supply whenever Chelsea and Sunderland lock horns. Shocks, on the other hand, well they’ve been seldom – thirteen of the previous fourteen Premier League meetings between the two have ended in victory for the Blues, who were 2-1 winners when the sides clashed at the Stadium of Light back in September and are strong favourites to comply once again.

It’s 2/5 Chelsea follow up back-to-back wins over Wolves and Portsmouth, the latter in the third round of the FA Cup, with a seemingly routine triumph over Sunderland. On recent form though, this will be anything but straightforward for Andre Villas Boas & Co against a resurgent opponent who last season stunned Stamford Bridge by winning 3-0 at the iconic home of the West Londoners.

Goals from Nedum Onuoha, Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck sealed an impressive yet shock 3-0 scoreline for Sunderland the last time they paid the Blues a visit in the league, in November 2010. A repeat is a 200/1 chance according to PaddyPower, which doesn’t seem all that bad a shout considering this renaissance period the Wearside club are currently enjoying under fan-favourite Martin O’Neill, who since taking over from Steve Bruce has accumulated 13 from a possible 18 points in the league as well as guiding the club into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

So whereas one manager finds himself under scrutiny, the other can’t seem to put a foot wrong at the minute. The former is of course Andre Villas-Boas, Chelsea’s under-fire Portuguese tactician who has so far failed to live up to all the hype. His teams were awful over the festive period, finally ending a run of four games without a win by edging out lowly Wolves at Molineux courtesy of Frank Lampard’s last-gasp winner.

If Chelsea were unconvincing at Wolves, they were drab and lacklustre at home to Portsmouth in the FA Cup, despite a flattering scoreline of 4-0. Three of their goals came in the final five minutes of the game, a game they hardly dominated in spite of the fact they were playing opposition from the Championship. Meanwhile, Sunderland were impressive at Peterborough, stretching their unbeaten run in league and cup to five to maintain their stunning turnaround in fortunes under their new manager.

The history book will tell you Chelsea are likely winners here, but that certainly is not the case on current form. The Blues may have won their last two but aren’t fooling anyone, while Didier Drogba leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations means AVB is solely reliant on the luckless/useless Fernando Torres. Contrastingly, Martin O’Neill has injected some belief into his Sunderland team, who have won four of their last five in all competitions and are bidding to triumph for the second season in a row at Stamford Bridge – where Chelsea were thumped 3-1 by Aston Villa on New Year’s Eve.

Match Pointers

- Chelsea have won 13 of their previous 14 Premier League meetings with Sunderland, including the encounter at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season (1-2): John Terry and Daniel Sturridge with the goals for the Blues, Ji Dong-Won with Sunderland’s late consolation.

- However, it was Sunderland who finished last season’s Stamford Bridge meeting victorious – comprehensively so, as well – as goals from Nedum Onuoha, Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck sealed a shock 3-0 success for the visitors on 14 November, 2010.

- There have been a minimum of three goals scored in each of the previous seven league meetings between these two sides, four of which produced five goals or more.

- Chelsea have lost just one of their last eight Premier League matches (W4 D3 L1), but recently ended a four-match run without a win with a dramatic late win over Wolves last time out.

- At home (W6 D1 L3), Chelsea have already slumped to three defeats so far including their 3-1 reverse to Aston Villa in their last league match at Stamford Bridge.

- Sunderland are unbeaten in their last four league games under Martin O’Neill (W3 D1) and are chasing their third consecutive away win following victories at QPR (2-3) and Wigan (1-4).

- Both teams enjoyed recent success in the third round of the FA Cup: Chelsea thumped Portsmouth 4-0 while Sunderland cruised to a 2-0 win at Peterborough.

Betting

Gone are the days when you could almost back Chelsea blind. No longer are they banker material for weekend accumulators. So at odds of 2/5, they’re a definite no-go at home to in-form Sunderland who should be buoyed by their sparkling run of results under Martin O’Neill.

It is now five unbeaten for the Black Cats after their stroll in the park down at Peterborough in the FA Cup, winning 2-0 thanks for goals from Craig Gardner and James McClean. The performance was a continuation from their displays in the league of late; O’Neill has his team well set-up all over the park, everyone is confident in possession, while going forward they look menacing.

As for Chelsea, they were pathetic for large periods against Portsmouth. Lacking the presence of Didier Drogba up front, who has left for the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, as well as the pace Daniel Sturridge brings to the fore, the Blues struggled for the best part of 85 minutes to create anything. In the end their lower league opposition caved in, allowing Chelsea to rack up a deceiving scoreline.

Andre Villas-Boas will welcome back Daniel Sturridge, whose pace will inevitably cause problems, but Chelsea appear a side devoid of self-belief right now – and they’ll be spearheaded by a striker whose confidence is at rock-bottom. It really is the exact opposition at Sunderland, who, based on their performances since O’Neill took charge, are more than capable of going to Stamford Bridge and earning a positive outcome.

Another frustrating afternoon could be in the offing for Chelsea, who have scored in every home fixture thus far but have looked toothless going forward in recent games, mustering just 5 goals in their last six league contests. A goalless draw is my idea of a decent value punt.

Match Outcome: Draw – 15/4 Bet365

Value Bet: 0-0 Draw (Correct Score) – 16/1 SkyBet

Match Odds

Chelsea – 2/5 StanJames

Draw – 15/4 Bet365

Sunderland – 8/1 Ladbrokes

Chelsea V Sunderland

Sunday, 14th November – 16:00 (GMT)
Venue: Stamford Bridge
TV Coverage: Sky Sports HD1

Chelsea

League Position: 1st
League Form: DWWLW

It seems an absolute age ago when the Blues were steam rolling their Premiership adversaries, but there’s a genuine opportunity here to rekindle their love for scoring against a Sunderland side who have been blown away in their last two visits to Stamford Bridge losing 7-2 last season and 5-0 during the 2008/2009 campaign. However, while the recent head-to-head would indicate only one winner, Chelsea haven’t been anywhere near their prolific best in front of goal and may well struggle to reach the scoring heights as in previous home clashes with the Wearside outfit.

Once again, Chelsea needed to be at their clinical best in midweek in order to ensure Fulham’s resilient qualities didn’t cost them valuable inroads on the way to defending their Premier League crown. And, because results elsewhere went in their favour, Chelsea’s hard-fought and not particularly pretty win over London rivals Fulham helped them restore a healthy lead at the summit, with the gap between them and their closest pursuer now four points. Michael Essien was the scoring hero on the night in a match where Chelsea were the dominant side but once again found themselves struggling to convert all their possession into goals – Which in turn is leading to a lack of confidence in front of goal. On the upside, Petr Cech broke a club record by keeping his ninth successive clean sheet in the league, with Aston Villa the last side to have scored at Stamford Bridge in the league back in March.

It is weird how we cannot seem to ignore scratching at the surface of what is a disappointing run, performance-wise, from Chelsea despite still boasting a formidable lead at the top of the table. However, the Blues only have themselves to blame as with their ferocious start to the campaign, having opened with five successive victories, four of which were emphatic, they raised the expectation levels and now every time they don’t half-a-dozen goals we instantly look to criticise Ancelotti and his players. Of course, winning games is what it’s all about, but Chelsea have been doing so recently in such an unconvincing manner that you cannot help but feel a shock is on the cards sooner rather than later. Their wastefulness in front of goal along with their lack of depth is contributing to a nervy patch of form, but Stamford Bridge has proven a welcome retreat for the Blues this season and if they are to be on the wrong end of a shocker, there’s little chance of that happening on their own patch – Where Chelsea have won their previous eleven home league matches and have lost only one of their last 36.

Good news for Chelsea, although we seem to hear the same old rubbish every week now, is that Frank Lampard could be named on the bench for Sunday’s home encounter with Sunderland as the England midfielder looks to establish himself back in the Chelsea fray after a three-month absence through injury. However, reports that Didier Drogba has been suffering with malaria are of great concern, especially as the Ivorian hasn’t been anywhere near his best for a while now and is perhaps a perfectly legit reason as to why the powerhouse striker hasn’t scored for over a month now. Jose Bosingwa started in Wednesday’s victory over Fulham so he should also be in contention.

Sunderland

League Position: 8th
League Form: WDLWD

Sunderland’s rehabilitation following their emphatic defeat in the Tyne-Wear Derby continued on Tuesday as the Black Cats ground out a hard-fought, although not necessarily thoroughly deserved, 1-1 draw away to Tottenham in the capital. Manager Steve Bruce seen his side come from behind for the third time this season to register a point from a losing position in a terribly difficult fixture, but the difficult fixtures do not merely stop at Spurs as next up is current league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge where Sunderland haven’t won in the league since 2001 and have shipped 12 goals in total in their previous two visits.

The 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane less than a week ago was Sunderland’s seventh of the campaign, and although in many instances having a drawing habit would prove frustrating, Tuesday’s result was most definitely a positive one and yet another step taken by the Black Cats in the aftermath of their Newcastle pounding just two weeks ago. Steve Bruce said several weeks ago that he felt his side have found resilience from somewhere on the road, something which we late belittled following their Tyne-Wear disaster, that no longer were his players allowing themselves to get rolled over on their travels and instead are actually contesting points which would have seemed unlikely last term.

While a two-match run in the league without losing is a pretty decent response to losing 5-1 at bitter rivals Newcastle United, the bad news is the team no longer boast the services of Darren Bent. The England international has now missed Sunderland’s last two league encounters with a hamstring injury has is a definite absentee for Sunday’s showdown with the Blues. However, fortunately Sunderland fans have embraced a new scoring hero in that of Ghanian striker Asamoah Gyan, whom now has 4 goals to his name and will be aiming to score for the third game in a row, as he also makes his third successive start in a Sunderland shirt. Fans, though, are beginning to get a little too excited about the prospect of seeing both Bent and Gyan, who between them have scored ten of Sunderland’ twelve league goals this season, with the remaining two being own goals, playing together – Two players with a natural goalscoring instinct.

Sixth visits to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League have ended in misery for Sunderland, so why should Sunday’s meeting be any different? Well, for starters Chelsea aren’t playing anywhere near their capacity level, although the fact they’re still scraping out wins says all you need to know about their winning mentality, but there’s is nevertheless a small window of opportunity here for Sunderland so long as their application and set up is spot on. Collectively it will require an outstanding team display, one we aren’t entirely sure they’ll produce, but they’ve produced a couple of courageous efforts recently so there’s no reason why they couldn’t provide the Blues with a few minor scares at the Bridge – Where Sunderland have conceded 23 goals have conjured just 2 since their 2001 success seven away meetings ago.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.22 PaddyPower
Draw – 6.50 Ladbrokes
Sunderland – 17.00 Bet365

Chelsea V Sunderland

Saturday, 16^th January – 15:00 GMT

Chelsea

League Position: 1st

Recent Form: DWDDW

The Chelsea express that was chugging along just fine in the early part of the season hasn’t yet come to a firm halt but has been met with a few bumps through Christmas. The blues’ have never been a huge fan of the busy period over Christmas which is usually packed with festive fixtures and the fact that they drew more games then they won clearly highlighted their humbug spirit. However, Sunderland, a team they beat 3-1 at The Stadium of Light back in August, could provide them with some valuable fuel as they aim to drive full pelt through a difficult month without some of their big African names.

Chelsea be aiming to start the new year a whole better then they ended it having won just two of their six fixtures in December. However, Chelsea have been a colossal outfit at home, Stamford Bridge, this season and it will take a brave punter to oppose them in this contest with a Sunderland team on the decline. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have only dropped two points at home all season and boast the strongest home record in the league 9-1-0. Only Everton have been able to withstand the sheer force of Chelsea at home this season, that being a thrilling 3-3 draw, but the blues have since gone on to winning back-to-back games at home after wins over Portsmouth & Fulham, neither all that convincing it has to be said.  

Chelsea are definitely going through a weird old patch where no one in the team is playing particularly well but they’re still one of the toughest nuts to crack. They may only have registered nine points from a possible fifteen but they are unbeaten in five and remain one of just two teams in the league to still have their unbeaten home record in tact for the season. Also, Chelsea’s last time out was an FA Cup fixture with Watford as their Premiership game with Hull City was called off at the weekend. Ancelotti watched on as his side tore threw Watford like a knife through butter, with Chelsea running out comfortable 5-0 winners.

Their performances haven’t been the greatest of late but even a satisfactory one really should be enough for them to see off Sunderland on Saturday. They’ve been close to perfect at home this season in terms of getting the right result, a winning result, but a slight concern will in that their usually stern and solid defence has conceded at least once in it’s three previous home games. Still, Chelsea have been more than accomplished themselves in front of goal and have managed to score 27 goals at The Bridge this season, the second best home offence in the league, and this powerful offence, even without Didier Drogba, should be far too hot for Sunderland to handle.

Sunderland

League Position: 11th

Recent Form: DLLDD

After a terrific start to the season which not only included a surge up the table but victories over Arsenal & Liverpool and even a well earned 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, Sunderland have gone completely off the boil and are struggling to even win a game at present. They did, however, record their first win in God knows how long when they beat Conference side, Barrow Town, in the FA Cup to book their place in the next round but will that win over a minnow really do anything to boost their apparent lack of confidence?

That wave of euphoria that Sunderland were clearly riding on earlier in the season has turned into a splatter as a seven match streak without a league win opens up and swallows them whole. 21^St, November 2009 the last time Sunderland won a league fixture. That was a 1-0 win over third place Arsenal of all teams but that’s their only win in eleven games. We will admit that Sunderland haven’t always had the rub of the green, a late Portsmouth goal being a prime example, but Sunderland are no longer playing with that early seasons swagger. The novelty of Darren Bent joining and scoring has worn off, the absence of Lee Cattermole through injury has been costly, while this severe dip in form looks likely to cost the club any chance of finishing in Europe.  

Although Sunderland’s start to the season was bright, the Sun only really came out to play when Sunderland were playing at home. The Black Cats have been terrible travellers all season and have just the solitary away win to their name after ten outings. That even came on the opening day of the season at Bolton, a team near the very pit of the table, nine away ventures ago and a whole four months back. Since then, Sunderland have managed to draw twice but lose seven, which is a far cry from their form at home.

We can’t quite put our finger on where it’s gone wrong for Sunderland and neither can their manager, Steve Bruce. He needs to somehow raise his troops for this away day out as they could be on the wrong end of a Chelsea spanking. Bruce’s side haven’t kept a clean sheet since that opening day success at Bolton, a run of nine games without keeping a shut-out. They conceded two away at Blackburn in their last away outing in a 2-2 draw, and if Blackburn can put two past them then it doesn’t bare thinking about what Chelsea will do to their half-hearted defence.

Head-to-Head (Last 9):

Chelsea W: 9 Sunderland W: 0 Draws: 0

•  Chelsea have won all nine previous meetings with Sunderland in the Premiership.

   

•                     Chelsea won the last fixture 3-1 back at The Stadium of Light.

•  In four meetings at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland have yet to score their first goal.

•  Two of Chelsea’s four victories at home have come by 2-0, while they won 5-0 at home last season.

•  Six of the nine meetings have produced three or more goals, although just two have occurred at home out of four.

• Frank Lampard has scored in his previous two home matches against Sunderland.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN – 1.25 Bet365

This should be straightforward for Chelsea, regardless of some big absentee’s. Sunderland have never scored a goal at The Bridge let alone took any points away with them and we don’t expect this dire run, or dominant if you’re a Chelsea supporter, to come to an end this Saturday. Chelsea have been very solid at home and extremely consistent. They’ve won nine of ten, with only Everton, a team who drew at Arsenal on Saturday, holding Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and Sunderland simply aren’t capable of equal such a feat. This could be a landslide result if Sunderland aren’t careful.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.25 Bet365

Draw – 6.00 Boylesports

Sunderland – 15.00 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Frank Lampard Anytime Scorer – 2.63 Boylesports