Sunderland v Reading: Black Cats to eke out a precious win

Eighteenth plays 19th when Sunderland host Reading and a tight and tense affair is expected. Go low on goals, says Joe Dyer .

There's the unmistakable whiff of crisis about both Sunderland and Reading ahead of Tuesday night's set-to in the north east so it's a shame the Sky cameras will not be  there to screen this six-pointer. With both sides deperate for a win this one could be seriously entertaining, but something tells me it'll be tough, tight and mistake-ridden  with a late, and possibly lone goal, settling matters.

 

Though based at opposite ends of the country, these two are united at the wrong end of the table after suffering very disappointing starts to the campaign. After 15 Premier  League games apiece, the Black Cats and Royals boast just three wins between them.

 

While promoted Reading could have been expected to endure a tough season back in the Premier League, few expected Sunderland to encounter such difficulties in Martin  O'Neill's first full season at the helm.

 

The former Leicester, Celtic and Aston Villa manager has rarely experienced trouble like this in his career but has shown few signs of turning things around. He must be  targeting this match as a major opportunity to register a win before a tricky run of matches that includes Manchester United and Southampton away, followed by Manchester  City and Spurs at the Stadium of Light.

 

The perplexing thing about Sunderland is that everything seemed set fair for a good season. With Stephane Sessegnon, Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher on board there's  enough talent among the playing staff to win games, but their 14-goal haul is among the lowest in the league while the defence has not really achieved the consistency one  expects of an O'Neill team.

 

Fletcher remains a doubt and, without him, you'd expect the Black Cats to be less fluent than usual. The markets are pointing towards a low-scoring match and we concur  with that. Reading have registered just seven goals on the road after all, while Sunderland do chuck in some less than entertaining games at home - witness 0-0s against  QPR and Stoke and Aston Villa's 1-0 victory at the beginning of November.

 

The Royals have won just two points away from home in the Premier League this season, but while a home win looks likely, at 2.04 Sunderland are no sort of price in  the match odds market, though Reading are hardly tempting at 4.2 and it looks a market to swerve. At bigger prices we'd rather back a halftime draw or  draw/Sunderland in the halftime/FT market.

 

In the long run O'Neill knows he can get the defence ticking before the attack falls in line, and powder-puff Reading offer a fine chance of at least getting one part of this  misfiring team working again.

 

Recommended Bets

Back the HT draw @ 2.3

Back draw/Sunderland HT/FT @ 5.6

Back Under 2.5 goals @ 1.86

 

Bet HERE !

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