Middlesbrough vs Sunderland

A Kenwyne Jones finish saw Sunderland grab a point away to their arch-rivals Middlesbrough. Tom Allen’s tip to lay the home side proved spot-on for some tidy profit

Quite a few teams look on the short side to claim maximum points in the Premier League this weekend and top of the list of clubs I want to oppose is Middlesbrough. They host Sunderland and look prohibitively priced at around the 2.30 mark to get the better of their north-east rivals.

I promised myself a few weeks back to steer well clear of games involving Sunderland having failed to grasp just what exactly they are capable of but, although they were hammered at Everton in their latest top flight outing, the Black Cats got back on track with an impressive performance to beat in-form Bolton in the FA Cup. I’m prepared to side with them again and think they can grab at least a share of the spoils.

Much was made of Roy Keane’s departure from the Stadium of Light at the time he cleared his desk but the Irishman has barely been mentioned since and new boss Ricky Sbragia seems more than comfortable in the job. Sbragia has masterminded a couple of thumping wins, over Hull and West Brom, and must be grateful to have both Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cisse in goal scoring form. I’ve mentioned before about the potential I believe that pair possess as a partnership and they were both on target last weekend in the win over Gary Megson’s side.

The two clubs meet on Saturday with only a couple of points separating them in the table but this is just the type of fixture where ‘Boro regularly flatter to deceive and I think Gareth Southgate could have a hard job motivating his men. Wins over Tottenham and Aston Villa this term show just how capable his side are when they fancy it but that is far from the majority of the time and ‘Boro have struggled terribly to find the net in front of their own fans this season.

Just nine goals in 10 matches at the Riverside tells its own story and it mustn’t be forgotten that ‘Boro only scraped home from non-league side Barrow in round three of the FA Cup last time out. It’s three defeats in a row in the Premier League, all without scoring, and Southgate must be nervously looking over his shoulder.

Only goal difference currently has ‘Boro out of the relegation zone and with star man Stewart Downing’s future far from certain things certainly don’t look good for Steve Gibson’s club.

When these two met back in September two late goals for Sunderland earned them three points and while they surrender home advantage looking to do the double over ‘Boro in the Tees-Wear derby should hold no fears. Sunderland have picked up just as many points on the road this season as they have when hosting and should be good enough to add to that tally, by at least one, on Saturday.