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Week Nine Recap
| Pundit | Last Week's Profit/Loss | Current Balance |
| Karl Jones | -£5 | £26.65 |
| David Boyle | £3 | £11.50 |
| Simon Walsh | -£4 | £4 |
| Dan Williams | -£4 | -£1 |
| Chris Weatherspoon | -£8 | -£12.50 |
Another disappointing week where only I was able to bring home any profit from the team and a small one at that with my under 2.5 goals pick. Karl, Simon and Chris' faith in the lads to emerge victorious from the Britannia proved to be costly but especially in Mr. Weatherspoon's case with his £6 stake on the result. Karl is still out in the lead, as the rest of us plot our way to overturning his big lead.
So, what have the lads gone for this week?
Karl Jones
The last time Sunderland needed something as badly as they need a goal right now, Larsson stepped up, curled a free-kick into the bottom corner and then leapt for joy as the Stadium of Light felt a weight lift. In the grand scheme of things we're some way away from the despair most felt last year, but the quicker Sunderland shakes off this scoreless spell, the better.
Having lost their unbeaten record last time out, Chelsea travel to South Wales aiming to get back on the Premier League horse in what will be Chelsea's third game in six days. They have a big enough squad to cope with that however, and should have enough to squeeze past Swansea. Both Fulham and Everton have been playing some decent stuff so far this season. Despite the Cottagers conceding just two goals at home, Everton are joint-second highest scorers on their travels. Therefore I expect goals in this one.
- Sebastian Larsson first goal - 12/1 - £3 Stake
- Chelsea to beat Swansea, Fulham/Everton Over 2.5 Goals - 23/10 - £4 Stake
David Boyle
Having had success last week with backing under 2.5 goals I see there being no reason to shift away from this pick with struggling Aston Villa coming to town. It is no secret that Sunderland are finding it incredibly hard to even register a shot on target at the moment and as much as I hope we can find the answer this weekend I have to go with the form when picking these bets and under 2.5 goals should stand a decent chance of providing a return.
Away from Sunderland I am going to continue the under and over 2.5 goal theme. The first fixture which has caught my eye is Bolton vs Cardiff where there have been over 2.5 goals in Cardiff's last seven Championship games and Bolton have also seen the same feat in ten of their last eleven games. To complete a double I am going to add Brighton vs Leeds. Brighton's last six Championship fixtures have seen under 2.5 goals and Leeds' last four games have also failed to see more than 2.5 goals.
- Sunderland vs Aston Villa Under 2.5 Goals - 8/11 - £5 Stake
- Bolton vs Cardiff, Brighton vs Leeds: Under 2.5 Goals - 13/4 - £2 Stake
Simon Walsh
Another week and another loss. At least it wasn't a big loss and I'm still in the game to a degree. Anyway, for this week's bet on our beloved Sunderland I'm looking at a win. Aston Villa aren't particularly any great shakes and I think that we could easily come away with all three points. Craig Gardner should be back in midifeld, and I'm backing him to score at any time in a Sunderland win.
Away from Wearside I'm looking at a monster treble of draws in the Premier League. Firstly Norwich & Stoke to cancel each other out. Also I'm viewing Fulham & Everton as a snoozefest and finally the Mags to draw with Liverpool at Anfield. This comes out at a rather stunning 45/1.
- Craig Gardner to score and Sunderland to win - 23/1 - £2 Stake
- Norwich/Stoke, Fulham/Everton, Liverpool/Newcastle all to draw - 45/1 - £2 Stake
Dan Williams
So, backing Craig Gardner to score two goals away from home was a pretty silly thing to do. Let's be fair, scoring at all was a bit daft full stop, With that in mind, really, really don't want this week's bet to come to fruition, but I'm going super negative. I'm sorry everyone I really am, but with the tension surrounding the weekend's game, the fact that we're both struggling, the whole Darren Bent factor and everything else associated with the frankly 'massive' Aston Villa, I'm going to go for a goalless draw.
I'm taking tips from Dave for the second part of this. Burnley and Wolves should be full of goals, with the home team banging them in regardless of results, Derby and Blackpool should (probably) sneak over 2.5, and Barnsley's defence is god awful, so I would expect over 2.5 when they have to travel to Hull for their latest spanking in the Championship.
- Sunderland 0 Aston Villa 0 - 8/1 - £5
- Burnley v Wolves, Derby v Blackpool, Hull v Barnsley, all over 2.5 goals - 5/1 - £5
Chris Weatherspoon
Wow, I really am bad at this. So this week I'm going to offer no justification, no semblance of reasoning, and simply just guess...
- Sunderland to draw 1-1 with Aston Villa - 6/1 - £1
- Everton to win at Fulham - 6/4 - £4