Sunderland vs Chelsea predictions: Blues can keep Black Cats bottom of the pile
Phil Agius
Sunderland have lost six of their first nine league games
Chelsea have won two of their first four top-flight away games
Morgan Rogers has scored on three of his last five appearances for Chelsea
It has not all been plain sailing for Xabi Alonso in his first season as Chelsea manager but the Blues boss has his side in fourth place in the standings and they should be capable of adding a third away win in the Premier League this season when they visit struggling Sunderland on Sunday.
The latest Sunderland vs Chelsea odds are available on LiveScore Bet
Key Stats
Sunderland lost by two goals in all three of their previous matches against top-four teams
Chelsea have gone in at the break with the scores level in their last four games
Sunderland's last four wins have all come in the EFL Cup or Europa League
Chelsea's last four matches have all featured exactly two goals
Both teams have scored on each of the last three occasions that they have faced each other
There have been over 2.5 goals in six of the teams' last seven meetings
Recommended Bets
Bet Builder
Chelsea to win
Morgan Rogers anytime goalscorer
Cole Palmer to score or give an assist
Score prediction
Team News
Regis Le Bris made four half-time substitutions in Thursday's loss to Dinamo Zagreb, so plenty of places could be up for grabs on Sunday.
Centre-back Omar Alderete is suspended due to his red card at Coventry. Trai Hume, Reinildo Mandava and Enzo Le Fee could start after joining the fray at half-time on Thursday, while Brian Brobbey and Luke O'Nien should also return to the starting line-up. Dan Ballard, Habib Diarra and Romaine Mundle are still injured.
Chelsea have their share of injury issues but the depth of their squad means they can still field a high-quality line-up.
Goalkeeper Emi Martinez has returned to training and could be passed fit to replace Mike Penders, while Jordan Henderson missed the Manchester United match through illness, when his replacement Romeo Lavia played well, and Estevao also impressed, so has a chance to stay in the side.
Maxence Lacroix, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato and Reece James are still out and Jamie Gittens is unlikely to return this week.
Need to know
Sunderland are 20th and last in the Premier League, with their only top-flight success in nine games coming in their first home match, a 1-0 victory over Fulham in August.
While they have won matches in the EFL Cup and Europa League since then, they have sunk to the bottom of the table with their only further league points coming from draws against Brentford and Leeds.
They lost 3-1 to former back-markers Coventry last Saturday and the pressure on manager Regis Le Bris increased with a 2-0 home defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Chelsea finished three places below Sunderland in a disappointing 10th place in the Premier League last season, but they have made a brighter start this time, winning five of their first nine games to head into the weekend in fourth place.
They had a major setback two weeks ago with a 2-0 loss to slow-starting Tottenham, but turned in a better performance to draw 1-1 against Liverpool at Anfield in the EFL Cup before losing on penalties and then beat Manchester United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
Prediction
Chelsea slipped up when they faced a team who had been struggling recently, losing 2-0 at home to Tottenham, but they should be able to avoid a repeat when they visit rock-bottom Sunderland.
The Blues took a step in the right direction with last week's 2-0 home win over Manchester United, although their first-half performance left something to be desired, and they should relish the chance to take on a Sunderland side who are in trouble after back-to-back two-goal defeats against Coventry and Dinamo Zagreb.
Starting a bet builder on the game by taking Chelsea to win makes sense. The Blues have played well in their last two away games, beating Everton 2-0 and giving a decent account of themselves in a 1-1 EFL Cup draw with Liverpool at Anfield before losing in a shootout.
Sunderland's confidence looks to be on the floor and they might have preferred to be on the road for this game than facing the same fans who booed them off at the Stadium of Light on Thursday just three days later.
Morgan Rogers has made a strong start to his time with Chelsea, scoring six goals in his first 13 appearances since a big-money move from Aston Villa, and he looks to have a decent chance of extending his scoring run to three games after netting from the penalty spot against Liverpool and opening the scoring against Manchester United.
The other goal against the Red Devils was a penalty by Cole Palmer and as the playmaker has found his form again, he is worth including to score or give an assist.
Palmer has scored five goals and provided three assists in league and cup games this season and has the quality required to add to Sunderland's problems after the Black Cats conceded seven goals in their last three games.
