Sunderland v Portsmouth Prediction & Betting Tips, 17th August 2019

Sunderland v Portsmouth League One Preview, 17th August 12.30pm

This game is the biggest fixture of the League One action on the weekend. It features two of the teams who failed in the division’s playoffs at the end of the last campaign. They actually met five times last season with the Black Cats having the better of those clashes. Sunderland are looking for their first win of this campaign. Read our Sunderland v Portsmouth betting tips for more.

Sunderland v Portsmouth Betting Odds*

Sunderland 6/4
Portsmouth 2/1
Draw 12/5
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on August 15th, 2019 at 8:15 p.m.)

Sunderland News and Form

It has been back to back drawn games by Sunderland in League One this season. They opened at home with a 1-1 draw against Oxford before playing out the same scoreline at Ipswich last weekend. So it has not been the most convincing of stars from the Black Cats. They were fifth-place finishers in the league last season picking up a W12 D10 L1 record on home soil. Sunderland struggled a bit towards the end of the season.

There was just the one win in their last seven league games last season (D3 L3) so add on the two missed chances from this campaign and that is one win in nine league games. On home soil, last season all but three of Sunderland’s home successes were against teams who finished in the bottom half of the table. Eight of their ten home draws were by a 1-1 scoreline, which has again been prominent for them this season. Sunderland took a clean sheet in a quarter of home games last season.

Sunderland v Portsmouth Head to Head

The Black Cats beat Pompey in last season’s League One Play-Offs
Four of the last six meetings have gone under 2.5 goals
Portsmouth are winless in three trips to the Stadium of Light
Five of the last eight meetings in all competitions have been drawn

Portsmouth News and Form

Pompey finished one place above the Black Cats last season in the standings but then lost 1-0 on aggregate to them in the playoff semi-finals. Their record away from home was pretty strong at W13 D6 L4. That is one more win than what they managed at home actually. Pompey went undefeated in their final five away games of the campaign, winning four of those. This season they have gotten themselves up and running with a win.

Portsmouth lost on the opening weekend of the new season, suffering a 1-0 loss at Shrewsbury. But then they set the record straight last weekend with a 2-0 success over Tranmere. That away defeat at the Shrews will probably be hanging heavily on their minds as they go into one of their toughest away games of the season. Portsmouth are the 4/1 outright favourites to earn promotion from League One this season, one mark ahead of Sunderland* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on August 15th, 2019 at 8:15 p.m.).

Sunderland v Portsmouth Tips & Odds

Under 1.5 goals at 7/4
Both teams NOT to score at 4/5
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on August 15th, 2019 at 8:15 p.m.)

Who will win – Sunderland v Portsmouth Predictions

There is probably going to be another tight duel between the two of these. They look two of the strongest sides in the division and that’s why this match gets top billing. The draw in the match outright really doesn’t look that unreasonable of an option.