Roker Riches: The return of Charlton - what bets will the Riches lads be putting on this weekend?

Welcome to this week’s edition of Roker Riches.

After taking 4 points from six over the Easter weekend, the lads take on double Wembley foes Charlton Athletic at home this afternoon. Three points by any means is very much order of the day to keep pressure on the top two and maybe sneak ahead of Posh if the chance arises, but what will our Riches team be betting on, both in terms of Sunderland and any wider punts worth a few shillings?

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The Rolling Table: Season 2020-2021

Yellow card update...

No yellow cards this week, as all bets were submitted to Malc the page-meister in good time. Lessons clearly learned from the very poor discipline last weekend.

After his (somewhat lonely) £30 win, Bomber climbs up what has been a very tight table to a respectable third place.

Matty, Phil and Malc’s bets were all unlucky, with that double-deflection against the post at the death versus Posh meaning none of these punters won anything on the SAFC bet, despite them all having various betting slips that would have benefitted from 2-1.

Hopefully the lads can do better this week both on the pitch and in the betting circles.

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Banker’s Bonus...

Charlton haven’t failed to score a goal in a game for over month, when they earned a 0-0 draw away at Oxford Utd in early March, the same team the lads beat 3-1 on Good Friday.

Sunderland have the best home form in the league based on the past 6 matches, with 5 wins and a draw. Charlton are the fifth best in-form team away from home (Sunderland are 3rd in that form table too), with 12 points from three wins and three draws.

If big Lee and his defensive mates can keep a clean sheet and gather more much deserved praise (as mentioned in other articles) despite that Charlton scoring streak, we will have an excellent chance of winning this game and at least staying in the present strong position, namely being in control of the ability to win the league with our own remaining games.

A clean sheet versus Charlton this afternoon will therefore earn all punters an extra tenner Bankers Bonus bet for the equally crucial away game at Blackpool next Saturday.

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This Week’s Bets:

Matty Crichton says...

Sunderland to win & Under 2.5 Goals: Lately under Lee Johnson Sunderland have been tight defensively and I believe this will be a very close contest given Charlton’s excellent away form. £5 returns £20

Photo by Chris Vaughan - CameraSport via Getty Images

League One Double: I am sick of losing so I am only backing two teams this week! Flying Blackpool to beat fading Lincoln away from home, plus Danny Cowley’s Portsmouth to continue their honeymoon period with a home victory against Burton Albion. £5 returns £22.75

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Luke ‘Bomber’ Davies says...

West Country Special - As Roker Report’s resident farmer, I’ve stayed close to home and picked out a Tractor-pulling treble for readers. Joey Barton seems to be starting to get some belief into his Bristol Rovers squad and will be up for leapfrogging Northampton and pulling themselves out of the relegation zone. Cheltenham will be looking to reclaim top spot in L2 and Forest Green hoping to solidify their place in the playoffs by moving as high as third with a win over Walsall. Forest Green, Cheltenham, Bristol Rovers treble - £5 pays £57.98

Sunderland Goalscorer Double - I can’t see Charlton being able to keep us out but I’m not so sure about the other end and keeping a clean sheet. I sense Jones’ comeback has been geared for the Charlton game and it’s about time Charlie got back on the scoresheet. With that, both Jones and Wyke to score returns £35 from £5

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Phil Butler says...

Sunderland to win 2-0. I’m not particularly confident in predicting today’s game so I’m going for a fairly high-return choice which isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. We’ve got a pretty solid defence and I fancy us for a win, since my nerves can’t handle backing 1-0 I’ll go for 2-0 to Lee Johnson’s side this afternoon. £5 returns £42.50

EFL Treble. After a couple of weird weekends due to international games and the Easter weekend I’m going for a good-old 3pm Saturday treble from Leagues One and Two. In League one Blackpool are a great price to beat Lincoln considering recent form, whilst Carlisle and Cambridge should both win in League Two. £5 returns £90

Photo by Dave Howarth - CameraSport via Getty Images

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Paul Fletcher says...

Sunderland to win 4-0: Same bet again, hopefully with a different outcome today. At this point in the season, games are running out and I’m resigned to the fact that we might not get the the resounding win that will get me up the leaderboard. But there’s always a chance. £5 returns £170

Treble to stave off bankruptcy: I’m not being greedy with this bet - I just desperately need something in the winnings column so I’m backing AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Benfica to all win this weekend. £5 returns £16.85

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Malc Dugdale says...

Sunderland to win to nil - With our defence hopefully boosted by Denver Hume, I am moderately confident we can keep Charlton busy at the other end, and win with another clean sheet. Not great odds but I am hoping this at least gets me a bit more than my money back. £5 returns £14.38 on Sky Bet.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

4 way acca - Man City, Liverpool, Norwich and Blackpool all to win - Norwich are more or less up already; Man City are just about champions; Liverpool need to kick on in these last games or they will miss out on Europe to Spurs or Chelsea, and Blackpool are top of the League One away form table (above Hull in second, then Sunderland in 3rd), so they will hopefully keep winning at least till we play them. Fiver returns £48.20 on Sky Bet.

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Danny Roberts says...

Sunderland to beat Charlton. I don’t like betting on Sunderland at any point of the season due to superstitions, let alone at the business end of the season when one hiccup could cost us promotion. But alas, for Riches, I’ll punt for a home win against a decent Charlton side. £5 returns £9.25.

Prem Four Fold: I fancy a basic Prem bet this week, in the hope I can claw back some money. It’s not been a good season of bets for me (probably down to all the yellows) but let’s end it well. Man City and Liverpool to grab wins on the Saturday and Burnley and Brighton wins to round off the four fold. £5 returns £61.87

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Riches Readers’ Random Pick...

Wyke and O’Brien both to notch - the random pick for readers this week has dropped into the goal scorers area. The readers bet predicts that not only will Wyke resume his rich scoring form, but he will be joined by Aiden O’Brien, who many feel will resume his place in the attacking line up this afternoon. This gathers odds of 6/1, giving the Readers a welcome £70 return if this comes in.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Good luck to Sunderland and to all our fellow punters this weekend, and let’s hope our Easter weekend points return maintains and reinforces our promotion hopes.

Please remember to gamble responsibly, and enjoy your weekend.

Let us know what you will be betting on this weekend, on social media or by email.

Cheers, and ha’way the Lads!