Sunderland look for fifth straight home win against West Ham
Sunderland start the day in eighth and play a West Ham side without a league win in eight games.
A Sunderland win could push Steve Bruce's team into fourth if other results go their way and would be the fifth consecutive home win. The partnetship between Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent is proving to be one of the deadliest in the division and will test a fragile West Ham backline.
West Ham's opening day win was their only success of the league season and even Hull have more wins in the league - but The Hammers will be happier after getting a draw from 2-0 down against Arsenal. Given Gianfranco Zola's committent to nice football it is hard to imagine, but West Ham really need to grind out a few results if the season is not going to be one long struggle.
Sunderland vs West Ham United; Kick Off 3:00pm 31 Oct 2009
Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).
Dave Blackburn : TBC
Chris Cox : 3 - 1
Graham Enwright : 1 - 2
Sue Gardener : 2 - 0
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 1 - 3
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 2
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 1 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 2 - 1
Dave Nash : 2 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : 2 - 0
Tony Ratton : 2 - 1
Peter Rendle : 1 - 0
Dan Taylor : 2 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 3 - 1
Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a 2-1 Sunderland win.
Home: 13; Draw: 0; Away: 4; TBC: 3.
* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!
