Sunderland vs Arsenal Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this one. Arsenal, sitting pretty at the top of the table, roll up to Sunderland who've been the surprise package of the season so far, sitting in 4th spot. But blimey, the form gap between these two is like night and day.

Arsenal are absolutely buzzing - won their last TEN games on the spin. Ten! Scored 21, conceded just one. Nine clean sheets out of ten matches - that's just ridiculous, isn't it? They're not messing about in Europe either, putting four past Atletico Madrid and three past Slavia Praha. They're scoring for fun and barely letting anyone have a sniff.

Sunderland have had a decent crack of it though. A brilliant 2-1 win at Chelsea shows they can turn up on their day, plus they've beaten Wolves and Nottingham Forest. They're hard to beat at home too - haven't lost at their place in the league this season, with three wins and two draws from five. But they've also been shut out by Man United and Burnley, and only managed one goal against Everton.

Now for the bad news if you're a Sunderland fan - the head-to-head is brutal. Nine times they've played Arsenal, and Sunderland have NEVER won. Two draws, seven defeats. Last time they met, it ended 1-5. Ouch.

Looking at the stats, Sunderland average exactly a goal per game, while Arsenal are banging in 2.1. Defensively, Sunderland concede 0.9 per game, Arsenal just 0.1. It's chalk and cheese, really.

The bookies have Arsenal at 1.40 to win, which is short but fair given they're absolutely flying. But where's the value for us punters? I'm looking at the goals market. Under 2.5 goals at 1.80 catches my eye. Sunderland don't score many, and Arsenal's defence is tighter than a Scotsman at a tax office. The numbers suggest we're looking at around 2.2 goals in this one, so under 2.5 could be worth a punt.