The Pay As You Lay Column: Black Cats and French duo there for the taking

Premier League / Andrew Atherley / 25 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

Darren Bent's Sunderland are worth taking on at home to Wolves.

"Lay Sunderland at [1.78] v Wolves; Lay Lyon at [1.49] v Toulouse; Lay Auxerre at [1.71] v Grenoble."

Every week Andrew Atherley will be selecting three odds-on shots worth laying. But there's a catch: he only gets paid by betting.betfair.com if at least two prove to be winning bets. Here is this week's offering...

Lay Sunderland at [1.78] v Wolves

Have Sunderland improved under Steve Bruce? The general consensus is yes, and the impressive starts made by new signings Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole and Lorik Cana have caught the eye. Yet an early position of eighth in the table might flatter them and it is questionable whether they should be so short in this match. Sunderland's three wins have been against teams currently in the bottom four, while losing their other three games, and that performance profile leaves them with something to prove. Apart from their 3-1 defeat at Blackburn, Wolves have acquitted themselves well , losing narrowly away to the Manchester clubs in league and cup. With key attackers Michael Kightly and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake coming back from injury, there could be some improvement to come.

Lay Lyon at [1.49] v Toulouse

Lyon, at their habitual short odds, were a good team to be with at home against last season, when they won only three out of 11 at home against the top 12 finishers. They have won all three league games at home this season under new coach Claude Puel, as well as their Champions League opener against Fiorentina, but still there are question marks. Four of their opening six games have been against teams currently placed 12th or below, and at home they have won only 1-0 against Valenciennes and Lorient. Toulouse, fourth last season and ninth at the moment, have taken something from every game in which they have scored this season, and last season they lost only two out of 25 when scoring, which is another indication that the margins in favour of Lyon are slimmer than they might appear.

Lay Auxerre at [1.71] v Grenoble

Grenoble are the Portsmouth of France, having started the season with six straight defeats, and unlike Pompey they found no respite in their midweek cup tie when they were knocked out by Lorient. Their last league defeat, 4-0 at home against Rennes, was shocking, but before that only Marseille had beaten them by more than a single goal, and the assumption that their losing run will go on and on may be false. Grenoble have played only one of the bottom nine so far, a 1-0 defeat at St Etienne, and so this is a drop in class against a team that is 16th, having won only one of its first six games. Auxerre, who have played three games against teams in the bottom seven and won only one, don't look too secure at short odds.