England - Premier League: Portsmouth vs Sunderland This is going to be a must-win game for both sides since they are largely struggling of late and we should, therefore, see a very interesting game. Sitting seven points clear of safety, this is probably the last chance for Portsmouth to catch the nearest relegation rivals, whereas Sunderland will be in all sorts of trouble if they lose this game.
Embarrassing defeat at Old Trafford
Portsmouth suffered third successive defeat as they were hammered 5:0 at Old Trafford, although they did manage to hold United for almost 40 minutes. Pompey thus remained at rock bottom, with no less than seven points adrift of safety and they are now hot favourites to go down. The game against out-of-form Sunderland looks to be their last chance and the hosts simply have to go all guns blazing at Sunderland even if that is a very risky tactics. We expect to see a very open game since the Black Cats also have to go for a win, thus we see a good value in betting on over 1.5 goals in the first half at 3.40 offered by Boylesports.
The players are obviously in poor spirits after the disappointing defeat at Old Trafford and Grant could opt to inject some fresh blood for the crunch tie with Sunderland. Hassan Yebda and Kevin-Prince Boateng should return to the starting line-up, while Aruna Dindane and Angelos Basinas are also pushing for the starting places. John Utaka, Aaron Mokoena, Tommy Smith, Herman Hreidarson, Papa Bouba Diop and Michael Brown remain sidelined.
11 games without a win
The dismal 11-match winless run saw Sunderland slip to the danger zone despite the good start of the season and it is more than clear the players have lost the confidence, which is one of the reasons for the poor results. The Black Cats couldn’t beat Stoke and Wigan at home and will now have to try and make things right at Fratton Park. There is no doubt they are the better team here but nobody can be sure they will prove that on the pitch. Nevertheless, with Bent and Jones slowly returning to form we expect the visitors to finally prove their attacking potential and recommend backing Sunderland to score over 1.5 goals at 3.00 offered by Boylesports.
Jordan Henderson picked up a serious ankle injury in the Wigan game and he looks set to miss the remained of the season, while John Mensah, Kieran Richardson and Anton Ferdinand remain sidelined. We are unlikely to see a lot of changes to the starting line-up, although Steed Malbranque and Bolo Zenden are pushing for the starting places.
Betting verdict
As we have already said, this is the last chance for Portsmouth to close the gap behind safety and they simply have to attack from the off, while Sunderland are likely to do the same as they are eager to arrest the dismal run of results. We, therefore, expect to see a lot of chances on both ends of the pitch, as well as goals.
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