Cowboys vs 49ers Predictions: Cowboys may find joy on the road

The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys are set to go head-to-head in a primetime battle on Sunday Night Football (00:20 Monday UK time) at Levi's Stadium.

Injuries are mounting up for the Niners, and they desperately need a win over another team in dire straits, while Dallas are coming off a much-needed bye week. Read on for my Cowboys vs 49ers prediction, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

NFL Odds

Team News

Safety Adrian Amos, who was signed to San Francisco's practice squad two weeks ago, will make his 49ers debut here after being elevated to the active roster. Talanoa Hufanga will miss out here due to a wrist injury, while Ji’Ayir Brown is expected to start.

Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk remain the notable absentees for Kyle Shanahan, while George Kittle and Deebo Samuel were limited participants in practice on Friday, and it remains unclear as to whether both will play here.

As for Dallas, Dalvin Cook is expected to make his debut after being elevated from the practice squad, however Ezekiel Elliott looks set to miss out.

In addition, Micah Parsons (ankle) and cornerback DaRon Bland (toe) are both out.

Cowboys vs 49ers Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Cowboys vs 49ers page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

The Betfred traders see home advantage being a key factor in this clash, as the 49ers are 4/9 on the moneyline, giving them an implied win probability of 69.2%.

The Cowboys are 9/5 straight up, while it's 10/11 for either side to cover the spread, which is currently set at 4.5. Jordan Mason leads the anytime touchdown scorer market for the Niners at 8/13, while CeeDee Lamb is shortest-priced for the visitors at 20/21.

Cowboys +4.5 @ 10/11

Normally, when these two sides meet, it’s either in the play-offs or a marquee matchup between NFC contenders. Unfortunately for both teams, that is not the case entering Week 8 of the NFL season.

Both squads are desperate for a win here, and although the Niners are fancied as -4.5 favourites, which isn't a surprise given their recent record against 'America's Team', they're not playing like a team destined for the Super Bowl like many expected prior to the season starting, going 3-4 through Week 7 with their offence, in particular, ravaged by injury.

Brandon Aiyuk has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL and MCL suffered in the Week 7 defeat to Kansas City, while Deebo Samuel departed that same game through illness and it remains unclear whether he will be available to take on the Cowboys. In addition, Christian McCaffrey is yet to feature this term.

There's no shame in losing to the defending champions, even if the Chiefs aren't firing on all cylinders either, but surrendering leads and ultimately losing to NFC rivals in the Arizona Cardinals (24-23) and Los Angeles Rams (27-24) is so uncharacteristic for his team.

It's hard to know what to expect from Dallas given their mixed bag of results so far, but they might not mind traveling to Levi's Stadium - they're 3-0 on the road, and given San Francisco's injury woes, I'm taking the Cowboys to cover here.

Jordan Mason 100+ rushing yards and score a touchdown @ 9/4

As mentioned, the 49ers ground game is obviously missing the star player in McCaffrey, but they still have one of the best running games in the league, racking up 1,049 yards from 212 attempts - ranking fifth in the NFL in both categories.

A huge part of that is through the efforts of Jordan Mason, who's received a huge workload in the absence of McCaffrey, impressing with 667 yards from 28 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Brock Purdy struggled with the passing game last week against the Chiefs, and I think he'll rely on the running game this week, and Mason will be involved heavily.

Each time he has had 20 carries this season, he's eclipsed the 100-yard mark, and the Cowboys rush defence is vulnerable - they've conceded 10 touchdowns.

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