Sunderland eye Chelsea Double

So Chelsea are back on form, they’ve spent over £70m in the past 24 hours and they’re all set to conquer once again. But this is the Premier League and nothing is ever going to be that easy to predict. Take for example the last time Sunderland met Chelsea, only in November, at Stamford Bridge. That saw one of the big shocks of the season as the Mackems crushed the then league leaders 0-3. Nobody saw that coming.

Yet here we are with nobody giving Steve Bruce’s side a prayer, though sat comfortably in the top six, of repeating the feat on their own patch. No bookie will offer odds more favourable than Victor Chandler’s 3/4 on a Chelsea win. The feel-good factor brought about by the recent improvement on the pitch and the mega-bucks purchases of Fernando Torres and Davis Luiz is evident but let’s not forget that neither of the these two will take any part in Tuesday night’s action.

Sunderland are a team in form themselves having won three and drawn one league match in 2011. Strikers Gyan and Wellbeck were already starting to replace the goal chasm left by Darren Bent before the new Villa marksman had even left. With only one home defeat all season, compared to Chelsea’s five away defeats, a bet on the Black Cats represents real value. Sunderland are 9/2 to win with Betfred.