Sunderland unduly underdogs for the visit of stressed Southampton

It is fairly obvious to work out why no club in the Premier League has accrued fewer points in the Premier League than Sunderland this season.

The Black Cats have only managed to take a single point from losing positions and thrown away 11 points from winning situations.

But worse than this is their record against fellow bottom-half clubs, as they rank worst in the whole division for points against those outside of the top 10, securing just seven points against their biggest rivals for relegation.

Therefore, it may actually be of benefit that it is ninth-placed Southampton that are the next opposition for Gus Poyet’s men, who also have the ongoing ‘will he’ or ‘won’t he’ subplot of whether Mauricio Pochettino will still be in charge following this fixture.

There has certainly been enough going on around St Mary’s to doubt whether they have been 100 per cent on the ball in preparation for this lengthy trip north and so Sunderland look worth backing as the underdogs here in the Premier League betting.

Sunderland’s odds are 15/8 to beat Southampton and this is an exact fixture that they have already won this season in the League Cup.

In fact, Sunderland are unbeaten in all four meetings with the Saints in all competitions since Southampton’s return to the Premier League and the visitors come into this fixture on a run of four defeats in their last six road trips.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have won three on the bounce to boost confidence.

Southampton are 7/5 to put an end to their winless run against Sunderland with a victory here, with the draw on offer at 23/10.

Five of the last six encounters between these two may have seen both teams find the target, but results this season suggest this clash will be much tighter and low scoring.

Three of Southampton’s four away games against bottom-half opposition have seen no more than two goals scored, while only two goals have been netted in total in Sunderland’s three home showdowns with fellow opposition in the bottom 10.