Sunderland v Chelsea betting

In one of the most exciting fixtures of this weekend, Sunderland welcome Chelsea to the Stadium of Light, writes Will Taylor.

Both sides have new signings ready to make their débuts following their deadline day arrivals, and if last season is anything to go by, this should be a cracker.

Nicklas Bendtner was the headline buy for Sunderland on the final day of the transfer window, while Raul Meireles completed one of the latest switches that evening, when he arrived from Liverpool, having handed in a transfer request. Both are expected to be included in their respective squads on Saturday.

Sunderland may have a strong case for having caused one of the biggest upsets of last season, when not only did they go to Stamford Bridge and win, against the odds, but proceeded to take Chelsea to the cleaners in a 3-0 romp.

When the duo met in Sunderland later on in the campaign, Chelsea were hungry for revenge, and despite the best efforts of their hosts, it was the Blues who ran out impressive 4-2 winners. It might not have been good for the managers, but a goal-fest is one way to get the neutrals interested, if ever there was.

The season before was hardly any different, either. Chelsea coupled their early season 3-1 away win with the annihilation of Sunderland on their own patch, winning 7-1.

Overall, Chelsea have indeed had the upper hand in this particular fixture. In 102 meetings between the sides, the Blues have won on 52 occasions, while Stoke have managed 39 victories in total. There have been 21 draws.

Visitors, Chelsea have received a massive boost ahead of the game, in the knowledge that Petr Cech and David Luiz will both return to the side.

Everything points towards this being a fantastic game – a blockbuster, even. These sides will go at it from the very first whistle, and although Chelsea will be the favourites to pick up the three points, Sunderland are not going to lie down and be beaten easily.

Match Odds

Chelsea are odds on to win this game, with many bookmakers offering odds of 1.73 (8/11)@ Bet365 that they will emerge victorious.

Sunderland are unsurprisingly the outsiders for this one, and at odds of 5.00 (4/1), bookies do not appear confident of a home win.

The draw might be Sunderland’s best hope, but the odds of that happening are fairly long too, with 3.75 (11/4) the most common price available.

Correct score

History points towards this one being a goal-filled spectacular, and for a repeat of Chelsea’s 4-2 win at the Stadium of Light last campaign, odds of 51.00 (50/1) are being offered.

A more conservative 2-1 is available at 7/1, while a repeat of the 3-0 scoreline that Sunderland recorded in the away fixture last season is 101.00 (100/1) with some bookmakers.

Of course, after all this build-up, it would be typical that this one turns out to be a dull 0-0. If so, that is priced at 11.00 (10/1) with many bookies.

First Goalscorer

There is no doubting Nicklas Bendtner’s talent as a footballer, and going to Sunderland could be the ideal opportunity for him to get his career back on track. For him to open the scoring, you can get odds of 9.00 (8/1).

The bookies favourite, however, is Didier Drogba, who having recovered from concussion is priced at 5.00 (4/1) to be the first goal scorer.

Juan Mata marked his Chelsea début with a goal against Norwich. He is expected to start the game, and could get the first goal at 7.00 (6/1).

Recommended Bet

This is a game that the strikers will be relishing. After the high-scoring meetings between these sides during the last couple of seasons, we could be in for another treat.

@ SportingBet are offering odds of 3.60 (13/5) on there being four or more goals in this game. In other words, if you put a tenner on that, and it comes in, you pick up £36.