Brentford vs Sunderland Prediction: Black Cats to shoot for the stars

Two sides tipped by many for relegation this season, Brentford and Sunderland, face off at the former's Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday (19:30 GMT, Sky Sports Tennis), sitting seventh and eighth in the Premier League table, respectively.

Below are my Brentford vs Sunderland predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Dango Ouattara remains on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Burkina Faso, so Brentford boss Keith Andrews will be without his club-record signing for at least one more Premier League game. The same applies to Nigerian midfielder Frank Onyeka, who helped his country reach the quarter-finals in Morocco on Monday.

Fabio Carvalho, Josh Dasilva and Antoni Milambo (all knee) remain in the Bees' treatment room.

Football Odds

Sunderland's Afcon absentees list is even longer, with Arthur Masuaku, Noah Sadiki (both Congo DR), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco) and Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique) all ruled out of Wednesday's match, although the latter will return to Wearside later this week after his nation was knocked out of the competition on Monday by Nigeria.

Ajibola Alese (shoulder) is sidelined for the Black Cats, but their head coach, Regis Le Bris, is hopeful Wilson Isidor can feature in west London after missing Sunday's 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur with a "small injury".

Brentford vs Sunderland Odds

Brentford, who have won three of their last four games (D1) and five of their last seven (D2) at the Gtech, are 5/6 favourites to pick up all three points on Wednesday, implying a 54.5% probability of success.

Sunderland are 7/2, or a 22.2% chance, to end a run of four consecutive draws with a victory which would see them do the double over the Bees after winning the reverse fixture 2-1 at the Stadium of Light in August.

A fifth-straight draw for the Black Cats is priced at 13/5, while a repeat of that 2-1 scoreline in Sunderland's favour is offered at 12/1.

Team With Most Shots - Sunderland @ 9/4

Brentford are in tremendous form, going unbeaten in their last five league games (W3, D2), but in all five, they have taken fewer shots than their opponent; in fact, the Bees have recorded fewer attempts in their last seven top-flight fixtures, last winning the shot count in a 3-1 victory over Burnley on November 29.

Andrews' side have taken fewer shots in 85% (17) of their 20 Premier League matches so far this season, and two of three in which they did win the shot count came against Burnley and West Ham United, two sides currently ranked 19th and 18th in the table, respectively.

Today's Football Fixtures

Sunderland have been second-best for that statistic in their last 10 games, and they're only marginally better than Brentford across the campaign, taking fewer shots in 80% (16) of their 20 league contests, although one was in August's reverse fixture as they recorded 12 of the 19 attempts on Wearside.

Still, despite losing the shot count in every match since a 1-1 draw at home to Everton on November 3, the Black Cats have put up some decent numbers, particularly away from home.

On Sunday, Sunderland shot 10 times at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while in their previous away trip to Brighton on December 20, they racked up 14 attempts at the Amex Stadium.

Earlier in December, Le Bris' charges shot eight and nine times at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and Liverpool's Anfield, respectively, while a 2-1 win at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge earlier in the campaign brought up double figures (10).

With the visitors still missing several key players, I can understand why Brentford are favourites in this market, but at 9/4, I'm seeing great value in Sunderland here.

Player to Have 1 or More Shots - Nordi Mukiele (SUN) @ 11/8

Brentford have conceded at least one shot to an opposition centre-back in five of their last six league games, including the most recent four. In Sunday's 4-2 victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Everton's two central defenders, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, both recorded a couple of attempts apiece.

Omar Alderete and Dan Ballard are Sunderland's two biggest attacking threats from set-pieces, scoring once and twice in the top flight, respectively, this season, with the Paraguayan averaging 0.9 shots per game, and the Englishman averaging one shot per game.

Ballard hasn't started any of Sunderland's last three matches, though, allowing Alderete to form a formidable partnership with Nordi Mukiele, and that duo is unlikely to be broken up on Wednesday.

While he may not carry the same threat as Alderete or Ballard, the Frenchman is still averaging a respectable 0.5 shots per game, mustering one in two of his last five appearances, and in August's reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light, he saw a right-footed effort miss the target in the ninth minute.