Betting tips / Andrew Atherley / 17 November 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

This weekend, with stats that show neither Sunderland nor Everton have performed too badly given an unkind fixture faced thus far, Andrew Atherley senses that each side's recovery will at last commence.

The answer to how bad Sunderland are should not be long in coming.

Saturday's home game against Fulham is the first of four consecutive fixtures that Sunderland will play against teams from the bottom eight - a run that will tell us much more about their prospects for the season.

The same goes for Everton, who languish in 17th place but could be set for an upward move now that they have an easier run of fixtures, starting at home against Wolves on Saturday.

This time last year Sunderland were riding high after a stunning 3-0 away win over Chelsea took them to sixth place in the Premier League table. The feelgood factor of that victory soon wore off, however, and now the Black Cats are sixth from bottom after a start that has turned up the heat on Bruce and marked his side out as relegation strugglers.

But perhaps it is a little premature and unfair to write off Sunderland, as they have had one of the toughest early fixture lists in the Premier League. Eight of their first 11 games have been against current top-half sides - no other team has faced as many matches in that category.

Fulham, by contrast, have played only four of the top 10 and yet have accumulated the same number of points as Sunderland, which suggests the early table may not be telling the whole truth about the respective merits of the two sides.

Sunderland's record against bottom-half opponents indicates they would be better placed if they had been given a more equitable set of early fixtures. In that category Sunderland rank sixth on points per game (2.33) and the teams ahead of them are all in the top seven in the overall table.

Their record in three games against bottom-half teams is won two and drawn one. They have scored in each of those three games, with a goal difference of 8-2, and had two clean sheets. It may cover just three matches, but it is a record with few holes and one that hints at improvement to come now that Sunderland face an easier run of fixtures.

Everton, too, have had a difficult early run and their under-performance has been against the top eight - just one point from six games. Against the rest of the division their record is three wins out of four and, with five of their six games in the run-up to Christmas falling into that category, they have the opportunity to go on a good run.

The next month will be a good indicator of whether Sunderland and Everton are capable of moving into the mid-table positions they occupied last season, and for now it may be wise to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Pick of the stats

West Brom v Bolton

Low-scoring draws are the norm. Nine of the 10 Premier League meetings have had under 2.5 goals and seven have finished all-square.

Wigan v Blackburn

Perhaps playing against type, these teams generally produce goals. Nine of the 12 Premier League meetings have had over 2.5 goals.

Recommendations

Sunderland to beat Fulham at [2.4]
Everton to beat Wolves at [1.66]