Sunderland Pick'em and -1/2 over Newcastle -117 - 2 Units Sunday 4 AM PT/7 AM ET (Yes I'll be up watching it here in Vegas)
When one thinks of bitter rivalries in the English Premiership, very few top the fervor of the Tyne-Wear derby. The first leg of this match saw Sunderland, a team in fine form at the time, humiliated at their neighbors venue 5-1 and was such a devastating humiliation that many questioned Sunderland's ability to gather themselves and move forward. Fast forward two months and an impressive run of form seen the black cats earn some eye-popping results including: victories at Chelsea and Aston Villa, home wins over Blackburn and Stoke, and a solid draw at White Hart Lane against Spurs.
Sunderland will be without key playmaker Danny Welbeck, but Newcastle is without key players as well and new manager Pardew is without enforcer Cheik Tiote who is serving suspension.
I'm looking for the lethal scoring combination on Sunderland of Asamoah Gyan and Darren Bent, both internationals for Ghana and England, to work well together and continue their goal scoring form (Bent 8 goals in 19 starts, Gyan 6 goals in 8 starts) and attack the Magpies backline. I also expect Sunderland to control the midfield with Bolo Zendan, Jordan Henderson, and Keiran Richardson to provide the sort of quality midfield support that has made Sunderland much richer in depth than many expected.
Sunderland currently sit at 6th in the table with 33 points and very much have the quality to finish the year with the option to be playing European football in 2011-12. This team will be focused following their week off and catch Newcastle in a great situation...
This game provides some nice line value as well as I see the closing number being Sunderland -1/2 -103.
