Sports Blog 23/11/2015: Match Preview – Crystal Palace vs Sunderland, Monday 23rd November 2015

After a weekend that leaves the top of the Premier League the most open it has been for years, Monday night’s match at Selhurst Park is a slightly lower-impact affair, even if it could have serious ramifications for the rest of Sunderland’s season.

Hosting the Black Cats at 8pm on Sky Sports 1, a win for Crystal Palace would see them leap from 10th to 6th, above the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham, Everton and Southampton. Yet Alan Pardew’s side haven’t had the best of luck at home. Despite picking up unlikely victories against Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and Anfield respectively, at Selhurst Park Palace have only managed 2 wins in 6 games, against West Brom and Aston Villa, whilst (somewhat impressively) drawing against Manchester United and losing to Arsenal, Manchester City and West Ham.



Monday also brings the added frustration of an absent (joint top-scorer) Dwight Gayle, who remains side-lined with a hamstring injury. They do, however, still have Yohan Cabaye, sitting at a Super Mega PGM spread of 21-26; though only on 4 goals so far this season his effect on the mentality of the club appears to be immeasurable, the Frenchman’s arrival pushing Palace to genuinely challenge for a place in Europe. Joining Cabaye on the ones to watch list is Yannick Bolasie; scoring the opener against Liverpool before the international break, the Congolese international scored a hat-trick against Sunderland back in April and, at a Super Mega PGM spread of 22-27, will be looking to put in a similar showing on Monday night.

If Palace are in the ascendancy, then Sunderland are stuck in the same relegation squalor them seem to find themselves in every season. With the worst defence in the league, at 26 goals conceded, and an abysmal away record, 18 of those 26 coming in their 6 games on the road, Big Sam inherited an unenviable task when he took the reins at the Stadium of Light. Initially things appeared to be picking up under Allardyce, with an opening defeat against West Brom followed by a 3-0 trouncing of bitter rivals Newcastle, a sure way to endear yourself to even the most hard-hearted Black Cat. However, that first victory of the season gave way to a woeful 6-2 demolition at the hands of Everton and a 1-0 defeat against Southampton, leaving Sunderland at 19th in the league with a mere 6 points.

Whilst their defence may be leakier than Wales on St David’s Day up front Sunderland haven’t fared too badly. On 4 goals Steven Fletcher sits as the top scoring Black Cat in the league, and goes into Monday night at a Super Mega PGM spread of 12-16; Jermain Defoe, meanwhile, has 6 goals in all competitions (not that it hasn’t stopped rumours of Allardyce offloading the English striker to fund a bid for QPR’s Charlie Austin in January) and is 9/1 to score first. Of course, that’s all for nought if Sunderland can’t plug their holes at the back, something Allardyce has made clear after saying ‘it’s very unlikely that [he] can play two up front’ when their defensive problems persist.

Given the vast gulf in form between the two wides, our clients and traders alike have found it too hard to look beyond a home win, even with Palace’s spotty form at Selhurst Park, leading Spreadex to offer a Crystal Palace/Sunderland Goal Supremacy spread of 0.95-1.15 alongside a Total Goal spread of 2.6-2.8.