Sunderland is still fighting for its right to stay in the Premier League, but it has a ways to go in order to hop Norwich City into the white zone.
This match against Arsenal is able to be had, but the Gunners still have a lot they have left to play for too with a Champions League spot still up in the air.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Sunderland +361
Arsenal -131 Draw +290
Over/Under 2.5 (over -128)
ODDS ANALYSIS
Arsenal has had a pretty good year on the road at 8-5-4, and it has outscored its opponents by nine goals in that run, the third best mark in the Premier League. That's why it's an odds-on favorite against one of the worst teams in the group of 20. The Gunners are set at -131 on the moneyline, and they're slightly better than a 50/50 proposition to get all three points in this one.
The total has to be relatively low due to the fact that Sunderland games have only totaled 35 goals in 16 affairs. The number is 2.5 and -128 vig on the under.
KEY INJURIES
Jack Wilshere is back in full training for the first time in quite some time, but we still don't know if he's going to be able to be in the fold for Arsenal on Sunday or not. Tomas Rosicky is basically in the same boat. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a couple more weeks on the bench while Santiago Cazorla probably only has one more week or so until he's at least back at practice.
Sunderland has no injuries to worry about, and that's a good thing for a team which just doesn't have much in the way of depth in the first place.sun
LIVE BETTING
Sunderland has to be really careful to not lose those points that it picked up on the road at Norwich last weekend. The Black Cats were phenomenal in their best match of the year, as they beat their fellow bottom feeders 3-0 in a duel which kept them in the EPL for the time being. The results haven't generally been bad for Sunderland. The team has draws against West Brom, Newcastle, Southampton and Crystal Palace since the start of March, and the only loss in the bunch was very excusable at home against Leicester City.
Arsenal has let too many points in games like this go this year. Just last week, the Gunners drew Crystal Palace at home in a match which really took away any chances of winning the EPL title with a month left to play. The team also had a match won at West Ham which ended up being drawn because it couldn't stop Andy Carroll. That said, against a West Brom team without a closer in the final third, Arsenal walked away with a 2-0 victory in a midweek battle.
QUICK PICK
This could be a challenge for the Gunners. Sunderland has to be flying high after getting three points last weekend, and it gets an Arsenal team here which has to be a little tired after playing on Thursday.
Unlike West Brom, the Black Cats do have a finisher in Jermain Defoe, one of the finer strikers of the teams at the bottom of the table. If the Gunners couldn't find a way to slow down Carroll, we really wonder if they're going to be able to stop Defoe if he's at his best.
We recommend taking Sunderland on the Asian Handicap, but we see a circumstance in which it gets all three points as well to get out of the relegation zone.
BPL Odds: Sunderland 2, Arsenal 1
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