Opta Big Match Stats: Sunderland slump to continue at Crystal Palace

Mile Jedinak's goalscoring rate has improved hugely this season

The Opta trends indicate that Crystal Palace will win a clash with over 2.5 goals on Monday night...

Crystal Palace v Sunderland
Monday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds: Crystal Palace 2.1411/10, Sunderland 3.953/1, The Draw 3.55/2

Crystal Palace have won their last four home games in all competitions against Sunderland

The most recent of those four triumphs came during the Eagles' lowest point last season, a 3-1 success representing the only points that they obtained across their opening ten fixtures. Having achieved Premier League survival courtesy of a remarkable sequence of away results in which they held Man City and then defeated Chelsea and Man United, Sunderland haven't won any of their four league road trips to date this term, the latest being that 0-8 shaming at the hands of Southampton.

Opta also note that the Black Cats are winless in 20 Premier League matches played on a Monday, a streak dating back to 2002 which is the longest of its kind.

Recommended Bet: Back Crystal Palace to win @ 2.1411/10

The Eagles' last three Premier League games on a Monday have produced 17 goals in total

Ninety minutes under Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher's Monday Night Football microscope usually brings out the best of strikers and worst of defenders, with four of the six such clashes in 2014/15 delivering four goals or more, and the bolded stat above suggests that Crystal Palace have the bug. Their Premier League games are pretty high-scoring generally, with six of the nine this season going over 2.5 goals and two of the exceptions settling on two goals. Meanwhile, Sunderland's last three encounters served up a mighty 14 goals.

Recommended Bet: Back over 2.5 goals @ 2.186/5

Mile Jedinak has scored four and assisted two in his last 13 Premier League appearances

Those figures might not cause jaws to drop, but when added to Opta's insight that he didn't net once or provide a single assist in his initial 34 Premier League outings, it is quite the improvement. The Australia captain has notched in three of his past five matches for Crystal Palace, as well as twice for the Socceroos since June. The combination of his set-pieces duties and Sunderland's shambolic defending against Southampton and QPR point to a decent chance of another gift presenting itself.

Recommended Bet: Back Jedinak to score @ 6.611/2