Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After what a seemed a small resurgence for Sunderland it’s once again life at the bottom for David Moyes’ men and with them now 4 points from safety it means that they are going to have to rediscover that small burst of winning form if they are to have any hope of clawing themselves out of the bottom three.
Today they play host to Watford and will look for a result that will at least get them off the foot of the table and hopefully once again turn the wheels of recovery in motion. Wednesday saw them as the latest side to be rolled over by the blue juggernaut that was Chelsea with Cesc Fabregas’ first half goal being the difference.
But were it not for the heroics of Thibault Courtois then Sunderland could have very well earned a dramatic late point. That said though they once again had Jordan Pickford to thank for keeping them in the game after a string of saves from the 22 year old kept the game as a competitive contest and not one that Chelsea were out of sight from.
It was a spirited if not sloppy at times performance from Sunderland but as we all know by now that spirit can only get you so far in this league, it’s the cold hard currency of goals and ultimately points that lead to success at this level. After three wins from four it’s now back to back defeats for The Black Cats and they can’t afford to be cast adrift any further from the all important 17th place.
Visitors Watford are blowing hot and cold at present, draws aren’t something that seems to be in vogue with this side they either win or lose it’s as simple as that. Defeat was the order of the evening on Wednesday as they fell to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at The Etihad with The Hornets on the losing side of a 2-0 scoreline.
Once again Troy Deeney failed to find the net and it’s now 9 league games in a row in which he hasn’t scored. That means Deeney is still stuck on 99 goals for the club but he will fancy his chances of completing the century against an inviting Sunderland backline. But what last season’s strike partner Odion Ighalo.
Had it been last season then Ighalo would have buried the guilt edged chance he had at The Etihad to level the game at 1-1 but the Nigerian blazed over the bar and it highlighted just how low on confidence this striker is. Perhaps they should have accepted that big money offer from Shanghai SIPG in the Summer after all.
But with 21 goals this season there isn’t necessarily an over reliance on Deeney or Ighalo with goals coming from all over this squad which resembles The United Nations. Stefano Okaka was on hand to score a brace in their 3-2 win over Everton last weekend and it seems as if he’ll be able to pick up the slack if the fearsome duo from last season continue to be somewhat out of sorts.
Can Watford find their form again away at Sunderland. In my opinion I think it’s going to be one of those rarities for Hornets fans in which I think the game will end up in a draw. Sunderland need to rediscover the form from November but I don’t think they will quite have enough to earn all three points and will have to make do with just the one. Honours even for me.
