Roker Riches: Sunderland To Win, Lose Or Draw? The Lads Predict All Three!

As Sunderland head to London to take on West Ham the Roker Report team again come together to try and pick out some winning bets from that clash and the rest of the fixtures across the UK and beyond.

Simon Walsh turned things around in style last week and will be hoping he can keep up his top tipping, can the rest of us keep up?

Find out what we have gone for after the jump!

Week Four Recap

So ask you can see a dramatic turnaround in form from Simon who leapfrogs Chris, Dan and Karl to find himself joint top of the leaderboard following his £5 stake on Sunderland and Liverpool to play out a draw. Elsewhere Chris will probably be disappointed his Sunderland couldn't hold on to their 1-0 win which would have seen him land a nice 10/1 shot. No-one was able to land their second bet with Dan's confidence in Eden Hazard costing him, while a Bournemouth draw cost my double and Swansea let everyone down with their defeat at Villa Park.

Onto this week's selections!

Simon Walsh

I can't remember what I did last week, but let's face it - I probably didn't win, so prepare yourselves everyone for another classic installment of what not to pick... (still not sure if Si was trying to play down his big win or if he genuinely is that forgetful! - DB)

For this weekend's game between ourselves and West Ham United, I'm not feeling overly confident. Three draws so far this season, who'd bet against another one? I would. I think we're probably going to get beat. So this week I'm going with a little £3 on West Ham to beat us by 1 goal. This comes in at 3.75/1 on Bet365. Oh boo yourself.

And in the other bet of the week (sic), I'm going for really some quite simple random plucking of names without any rhyme or reason. It's about as good as any other theory I've devised so far so here goes. First of all, Swansea to beat Everton. Why the hell not? Secondly we're looking at Southampton to stop being rubbish and beat Aston Villa at home, and lastly Manchester United head into Anfield and win. Over all, that's an 19/1 treble, and it get's £2 from me.

• West Ham to beat Sunderland by One Goal - 3.75/1 - £3 Stake
• Swansea, Southampton & Man United all to Win - 19/1 - £2 Stake

Karl Jones

I'm getting down to the brass a bit after two weekends where one result kept me from making a tidy gain. So, in pursuit of profit, I'm looking to markets where odds are generally greater, and to start it's the goal scorer betting for West Ham vs Sunderland. Steven Fletcher has had a dream start to life as a Sunderland player, and I fancy that to continue this weekend with him opening the scoring.

Elsewhere, I intended on bringing up some obscure markets where value can often be found but I got distracted by the flashy sign in the window. That sign was Fulham, with Dimitar Berbatov, a staggering 21/10 to beat Wigan. Double that with a favourite of mine of late - 'whoever AFC Wimbledon are playing'. This week it's Wycombe.

• Steven Fletcher First Goal - 15/2 - 50p Stake
• Fulham to beat Wigan, Wycombe to beat AFC Wimbledon - 9/2 - 50p Stake

Dan Williams

It has been interesting to watch West Ham this season. They looked absolutely dreadful against Swansea, but were far more impressive against Fulham. However, a lot of that confidence seemed to stem from Andy Carroll's bullish debut, and we already know that we won't have to deal with him when we clash at Upton Park. (Hopefully! - DB)

I think that our defence will hold strong, despite it being suspect in the past to shite players such as Carlton Cole. I'm confident that we'll be okay here though, and will have enough in the tank to cruise past 'Big Sam's' team, and take all three points from our trip to London.

Okay, so the last time I back TFC to not concede, they went and let a goal in against a promoted side, and they take on another here. However, I'll stick by my guns and say that they will come away with a clean sheet and three points here.

• Sunderland to win to nil - 6/1 - £5 Stake
• Toulouse to win to nil - 3/1 - £5 Stake

David Boyle

Saturday's game was a tricky one for me to call. Ordinarily I would leave this type of fixture well alone but I am left with no choice. Allardyce has his side well drilled, especially at home and are yet to concede a goal at Upton Park this year. Sunderland are unlikely to change their counter-attacking style now, especially away from the Stadium of Light, so I can see this being a close game with not many goals to show for it. There was however one standout stat which caught my eye from OPTA this week; All seven of the goals scored by West Ham and Sunderland so far in the Premier League this season have been scored in the first half - sounds like a bet to me.

For my second bet I am going turn my attention to the Championship with a little double. The first side that caught my eye is Brighton. Poyet's side have won four in a row now and with Craig Mackail-Smith having bagged six goals already this season the Seagulls look like they may live up to the hype this term. They travel to a struggling Millwall who have lost their last two.

The second side to complete my double is Sheffield Wednesday who are at home to Bolton Wanderers. Bolton have struggled of late on their travels, a midweek defeat at Birmingham their third successive defeat on the road. Granted Sheff Wed haven't been great lately either but at 8/5 I reckon the home side are good odds to put their form right in front of a big crowd.

• West Ham vs Sunderland, highest scoring half = First Half - 11/5 - £2.50 Stake
• Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday to win - 7/1- £2.50 Stake

Chris Weatherspoon

Why change the habit of a season? Under Sam Allardyce West Ham are undoubtedly a difficult prospect, offering a physical element that we can't realistically match. But that does not mean to say we should go in expecting to be beaten. Sunderland have ground out three draws in a row in the league so far and, although many are now pining for a victory, don't be surprised if we notch another point in London on Saturday.

Well, so much for that "banker" on Rangers last week, ey? I'll try another one. I'd say Chelsea are pretty much dead certs to overcome Stoke at the Bridge this weekend, but the odds on a win alone are - again - not worth it. With that in mind I'll go for a 3-0 for the Blues, and hope to start clawing back some of the deficit...

• Sunderland to draw at West Ham - 12/5 - £5 stake
• Chelsea to beat Stoke 3-0 - 10/1 - £1 stake

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Anything caught your eye? Have we missed any glaringly obvious bets? Let us know in the comments!