James Buttler looks ahead to Sunday afternoon's Championship clash between Hull City and Sunderland to find the very best bets.
A run of three successive Hull wins was ended in emphatic style by a 4-0 away drubbing at Norwich City just before the international break. The Tigers did beat bottom of the table Cardiff City 4-1 last time they played at their MKM Stadium, but hosting table toppers Sunderland on Sunday will be a different kettle of fish entirely.
Sunderland started their campaign with four straight wins, but, of late, their away form has seen them stutter. A 3-2 defeat at Plymouth was followed by a 2-1 away loss to Watford. Despite those losses, the Black Cats had won their opening two away matches and across all four trips they have scored eight goals and conceded six.
Leeds United were seconds away from beating Sunderland at The Stadium of Light before a late equaliser salvaged a point and kept them top through the fortnight off.
Both sides have promotion aspirations, Hull missing out on the playoffs last season by three points, whereas Sunderland ended 16th but are a Premier League club in waiting, since 2017!
New French boss Regis Le Bris seems to be nurturing the red and white striped youngsters well and they will head to the east coast confident of three points, but it may well not be as straightforward as that. Their early season dominance has faded a little and, despite Tim Walter’s Hull being the model of complete inconsistency, there have been more positives than negatives in recent weeks.
Six out of the last nine matches between Hull and Sunderland have ended as a draw. Last season bucked the trend though, with Sunderland winning 1-0 in Hull and the Tigers getting their revenge by the same scoreline in Sunderland. The draw is a play at 13/5 with Coral.
Both Teams To Score had landed in the five previous encounters and, with both sides scoring plenty and also conceding, BTTS at 8/13 with QuinnBet isn’t a daft punt.
If you’re looking for a goal scorer, Chris Bedia has scored two in three games for Hull and he’s 5/2 with Unibet to find the back of the net again.
And finally, there has been a penalty awarded in each of Hull’s last four Championship matches. A penalty in the match on Sunday is 27/10 with Ladbrokes.
James’ Championship Tips
Draw in Hull v Sunderland at 13/5
BTTS in Hull v Sunderland at 8/13
Chris Bedia to score anytime at 5/2
That can be combined in a BetBuilder with Bet MGM at 12/1.
Penalty to be awarded on Sunday at 27/10
Please always gamble responsibly.