Middlesbrough vs Sunderland Betting Analysis

Sunderland's run of failing to win in the Premiership now stands at 26 matches - a statistic that includes their stint at the top level in the 2003/2004 season - and it's hard to envisage Mick McCarthy's men breaking that sequence when they travel to the Riverside Stadium on Sunday.Boro have thumped their north east rivals in each of their last four meetings and the divide between the two is reflected in their current positions in the table - eighth and stone last respectively - and we shouldn't witness anything but a cosy victory for the home side on Sunday.We all know that Middlesbrough have a wealth of striking talent in their team, and I reckon that, at 13-2 with Coral, it's well worth having a punt on Steve McClaren's charges to win 2-0.Sunderland have conceded 11 goals in their six Premiership matches this season, which equates to an average of 1.83 a game. Although this ratio doesn't fairly reflect their defensive doggedness, they just can't seem to stand firm for a full 90 minutes and it would be a major shock if Boro weren't to hit the mark at least twice in this encounter.Admittedly, Steve McClaren's charges have posted a couple of tame efforts - including when throwing away the lead and finishing all square with lowly Wigan last weekend - but it is worth remembering that they have had an early-season nightmare with injuries, which is only now starting to ease. Their creative influence on the left, Stuart Downing remains on the easy list with a knee injury, but Chris Riggott, Gaizka Mendieta, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Stuart Parnaby and Szilard Nemeth are all now back in full training following spells on the sidelines.Aiyegbeni Yakubu has settled in well on Teeside since his move from Portsmouth and has found the net in Boro's last two Premiership games, including their 2-1 beating of Arsenal earlier this month. Now that he has well and truly discovered his shooting boots, I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up on the scoresheet on Sunday.As such, the 11-8 on offer with Stan James about him in the 'Anytime Goalscorer' market looks rather magnanimous and should be duly lapped up. The generosity of this price is emphasised by the fact that Coral offer the same bet at 8-11! Sunderland looked all set to break their Premiership hoodoo when holding a 1-0 advantage over West Brom at the Stadium of Light on September 17, but, deep in stoppage time, Zoltan Gera arrived on the scene to spoil the party with a last-gasp equaliser for the visitors. Fresh from that promising performance, you would have expected Sunderland to readily outpoint Cheltenham of Division Two at home in the Carling Cup in midweek. However, anyone that watched that match would not be in the least surprised to learn that Sunderland are 1-8 for automatic relegation with Skybet - it wasn't pretty.In fact, it took an extra-time golden goal from Anthony Le Tallec to settle the tie and book the Black Cats' ticket for the next round, which, even allowing for the fact that 10 changes were made to the team that drew with West Brom, was a pretty appalling return for those that paid to watch what should have been bloodbath of goals for the home side. Recommended bets: 1pt Middlesbrough to win 2-0 @ 13-2 (VCBet)2pts Yakubu to score anytime @ 11-8 (Stan James)