Sunderland v Aston Villa: How you can cash in on the weekend’s dullest fixture

By Josh Powell | Premier League

Fans of goalmouth action, quick-tempo football and lightning-quick attacks will be delighted to see games such as Manchester United v Arsenal and Liverpool v Newcastle this weekend. If you’re not a fan of Premier League classics then don’t worry. We’ve also got Sunderland v Aston Villa.

To say both teams are struggling in front of goal is an understatement. Mick McCarthy is more likely to win Miss World than either of these teams setting the world alight on Saturday but punters can be the ones to profit.

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• Aston Villa have managed a measly seven goals this season which is on average 0.78 goals a game. That is seven goals from a whopping 98 shots across their nine games this season meaning they have a strike success rate of just seven per cent.

It’s that kind of return in front of goal that would suggest a trip on the Championship train is coming sooner than Villa fans would like.

• Sunderland are marginally worse with just six goals in eight games. Martin O’Neill’s side have had less shots on goal than Villa with just 58. That gives them a strike success rate of 10 per cent which doesn’t read well when you only average seven shots a game.

It gets worse when you take out Steven Fletcher’s goals. The Sunderland team without Fletcher has had 43 shots on goal in eight games with just 24 on target. That’s an average of just three shots on target a game and the only goal on that tally was a Demba Ba own goal.

Both teams not to score at 5/6, under 1.5 goals at 15/8 and the 0-0 correct score at 7/1 are all worth a cheeky punt, we think.

The Black Cats have only scored three goals at the Stadium of light this season, with just QPR having a worse home record in front of goal. Villa have scored just two on the road this season. Every single one of the other 91 teams in the top four flights of English football have scored at least three away goals.

It’s more likely to be a sloppy 0-0 draw than an end-to-end five-goal thriller but it could be one of the most profitable matches for punters this weekend.

• Betting: Sunderland v Aston Villa