New style Roker Riches in the sense that it's back in my control. Unfortunately for us, Gavin Callaghan has had to step down from his Roker Riches duties. All of us here at Roker Report wish him well on his way, and make sure you follow him on Twitter for tips that are no doubt better than my own.
That said, I'm looking to get off to a winning start this weekend as we take on Manchester City, and I'm feeling confident. All your top tips are only a click away...
With us lot in free fall, and City pushing for the Champions League, it would seem an open and shut case that City will run out winners on Sunday. Of course, they might, who knows. On the other hand though, City had an outstanding team last year, and were supposed to finish fourth. They didn't, after a series of hiccups. Could SAFC provide them with a similar hiccup this season? I bloody hope so.Fulham went there and drew, Everton went there and won. Birmingham and Blackburn Rovers also grabbed draws at Eastlands, not to mention the near famous draws away at Notts County and Leicester City. The Sky Blues are far from the finished article, nor are they the model of consistency.
Add into the equation two very different international breaks for the clubs. Sunderland arrive full of confidence, Asamoah Gyan on a high, Sulley Muntari impressive, Welbeck & Henderson amongst the goals. Meanwhile our opponents lost Micah Richards for a few weeks, and saw Joleon Lescott endure a torrid time against the afore mentioned Gyan.
So keeping this in mind 6/1 for a Sunderland win at Eastlands looks massive to me, and too good not to put a tenner on.
If we were to get that result, who would be amongst the scorers? Not really sticking my neck out here, but you can't look too far beyond Asamoah Gyan at 8/1 surely?
Of course winning at City is still a tough task, and if you fancy our barren run to continue, there's some value in backing the hosts. Edin Dzeko hasn't scored for a while, and you know that sort of thing always spells trouble for Sunderland. You can grab him to score first, coupled with a 2-0 win for City at 28/1.
Our Top Tip - Sunderland to win @ 6/1
However I'm spending a cheeky few quid doubling that with Gyan to score first bringing the odds to 66/1.
Whatever you choose this weekend, be lucky, and enjoy the game!
All odds courtesy of BetFred.com
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