Sunderland have failed to score in any of their last three home games and could find it tough going again versus Fulham on Saturday.
The Black Cats will probably have enough about them to avoid any sort of prolonged relegation battle in the coming weeks but they are simply not that good and their form in the north-east this season has been poor.
Home fans at the Stadium of Light have witnessed just four Premier League victories this term and I’ve no doubt they face opposition of superior quality this weekend in just about every department.
Fulham themselves have endured a somewhat disappointing season under Martin Jol but they remain well clear of their upcoming hosts and another top-half finish is certainly not beyond them.
The West Londoners are just a point adrift of Stoke in tenth place and recent signs have been much better after a poor start to 2013.
Jol has seen his side succumb only to the Premier League’s top two teams in their last seven matches and they have certainly tightened up at the back of late.
A gritty 1-0 win over Tony Pullis’ men last weekend means it is just six goals conceded in that period, picking up a valuable 11 points in the process, and Fulham are more than capable of notching a third away win of the campaign.
With players of the quality of Dimitar Berbatov and in-form Bryan Ruiz up front, the Cottagers can always be fancied to nick a goal and one could well be enough to earn at least a share of the spoils.
Only QPR and Aston Villa have scored less than Sunderland’s 14 top flight home goals to date and if Steven Fletcher is not on target then manager Martin O’Neill is struggling badly for somebody else to make the breakthrough.
2pts Back Fulham Draw No Bet (vs. Sunderland) @ 2.38