Fulham remain in poor form in the Premier League and must be opposed at the prices today.
The Cottagers take on Sunderland with just four top flight wins to their name in their previous 27 matches, a shocking run, and unless manager Mark Hughes can find some improvement form somewhere then Fulham will be fighting a relegation battle for the remainder of the campaign.
The West London club have always been a significantly more potent force on the banks of the River Thames than on their travels but wins over Wigan and Wolves are all they have to show for their efforts at home this season and scoring goals has been a problem.
Fulham have not found the net more than once in any match since that 2-0 win over the Latics way back in October and quite how they are available to lay at under 2.30 this afternoon I’m not quite sure.
Saturday’s opponents Sunderland shocked the entire Premier League when dismantling Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge last month but they had been hinting at such an effort away from home for a while now and manager Steve Bruce must take an awful lot of credit for that success.
Bruce had already sent out his troops to gain valuable points at Liverpool, Blackburn and Tottenham this season and the Black Cats are aiming at a Europa League place at present.
Securing European football will probably prove beyond Darren Bent and his team-mates in 2011 but Sunderland have made giant strides under Bruce and now possess a very solid spine to their side indeed.
With Jordan Henderson earning rave reviews in midfield and Danny Welbeck making a significant impact during his loan spell from Manchester United, Sunderland’s crop of young talent is exciting all fans of the red and whites and they must be sided with at Craven Cottage.
Sunderland would be arriving in the capital this afternoon having been beaten just once in 11 matches were it not for a late capitulation at Molineux a fortnight ago and I couldn’t put anybody off backing them straight up to claim all three points. They score plenty, and the 3.75 with VC Bet about them doing so is big.
5pts Lay Fulham (vs. Sunderland) @ 2.24 (Betfair)