# Sunderland v Fulham — the Match Wizard Premier League, game week 2 — Sunday, 30 August 2026, kick-off 14:00 UK time. > The wizard is price-blind: four steps on played-match facts alone, then your appraisal — and only then the market. Read it in order. Nothing here is a tip or a selection. Sunderland: 39 league matches in the bank, 1 from this season and the rest from last season. Fulham: 39 league matches in the bank, 1 from this season and the rest from last season. Look and learn: it is early in the season, so nearly everything counted here was earned last season -- by squads and dugouts a summer window may have reshaped. Treat the first five weeks as pointers while the new shapes settle, not proof. ## Step 1 of 4 — The table **The table makes Sunderland the bigger side: 7th against 11th of 20 last season. Against the block the other keeps: Sunderland takes 1.67 points a game, Fulham 1.54 -- nothing between them.** Step one is THE TABLE: rank against rank, and the blocks -- the table cut into a top, middle and bottom block, drawn from last season's final standings. The question is not just where each side stands but how it behaves against the company the other keeps: does it play to rank against the blocks above and below, or come apart? ### Sunderland -- at home - **Where it stands:** Stands 14th of 20 after 1 game, with 0 points -- too few games yet to mean much. Last season it finished 7th of 20 in this division. - **Its block:** By last season's final table it sits in the middle block (7th to 13th). Blocks are drawn from last season because the current table is only 1 game old. - **Against today's opponent's block:** Today it faces a side from the middle block (7th to 13th). Against that block it has won 6, drew 2, lost 4 of 12 -- 20 points of 36. At home against them: won 3 of 6. Away against them: won 3 of 6. - **Across all the blocks:** Across the blocks, over the last two seasons: against the top block won 1, drew 6, lost 5 of 12 (0.75 a game); against the middle block won 6, drew 2, lost 4 of 12 (1.67 a game); against the bottom block won 7, drew 4, lost 3 of 14 (1.79 a game); against sides new to the division won 0, drew 0, lost 1 of 1 (0.00 a game). ### Fulham -- away - **Where it stands:** Stands 15th of 20 after 1 game, with 0 points -- too few games yet to mean much. Last season it finished 11th of 20 in this division. - **Its block:** By last season's final table it sits in the middle block (7th to 13th). Blocks are drawn from last season because the current table is only 1 game old. - **Against today's opponent's block:** Today it faces a side from the middle block (7th to 13th). Against that block it has won 6, drew 2, lost 5 of 13 -- 20 points of 39. At home against them: won 5 of 7. Away against them: won 1 of 6. - **Across all the blocks:** Across the blocks, over the last two seasons: against the top block won 1, drew 2, lost 9 of 12 (0.42 a game); against the middle block won 6, drew 2, lost 5 of 13 (1.54 a game); against the bottom block won 8, drew 3, lost 3 of 14 (1.93 a game). ## Step 2 of 4 — Home and away form **+0.84 points a game is the venue form gap, in Sunderland's favour: Sunderland takes 1.74 a game at home over the last two seasons, Fulham 0.89 away.** Step two is HOME AND AWAY FORM -- the home side judged on its home record, the away side on its away record, because those are the records that will be on the pitch. The last five reach back into last season where this season is too young to answer, and say so. ### Sunderland -- at home - **Its record at the relevant venue:** No home game yet this season. Last season at home: won 9, drew 6, lost 4 of 19, scoring 25 and conceding 20 -- 1.74 points a game. - **Its last five league matches:** Newest first: lost to Ipswich Town 1-2 away; beat Chelsea 2-1 at home; beat Everton 3-1 away; drew with Manchester United 0-0 at home; drew with Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 away. The last 4 of these are from last season. - **The dugout:** Every one of the 39 banked matches with a manager recorded was taken by Régis Le Bris. Who picks the team today is not yet recorded this season, so a summer change of manager would not show in these figures. ### Fulham -- away - **Its record at the relevant venue:** No away game yet this season. Last season away: won 4, drew 5, lost 10 of 19, scoring 17 and conceding 31 -- 0.89 points a game. - **Its last five league matches:** Newest first: lost to Chelsea 2-3 at home; beat Newcastle United 2-0 at home; drew with Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 away; lost to AFC Bournemouth 0-1 at home; lost to Arsenal 0-3 away. The last 4 of these are from last season. - **The dugout:** The banked record belongs to the club, not one man: 2 different managers took its 39 matches with one recorded (38, 1 apiece), most recently Álvaro Arbeloa Coca with 1. Who picks the team today is not yet recorded this season, so a summer change of manager would not show in these figures. ## Step 3 of 4 — Goals, and when they come **Sunderland scores heaviest in the 76-90+ spell and concedes heaviest in 31-45+; Fulham scores heaviest in 76-90+ and concedes heaviest in 46-60.** Step three is GOALS, AND WHEN THEY COME. Not just how many each side scores and lets in, but the minute bands they come in, who lands the first blow, what each side does after falling behind, and who finds goals late. A side that concedes early and scores late reads very differently from one that does the opposite, at the same goal difference. Side by side: Sunderland scores most in the 76-90+ band (13 of 43); Sunderland concedes most in the 31-45+ band (10 of 50); Fulham scores most in the 76-90+ band (14 of 49); Fulham concedes most in the 46-60 band (14 of 54). Who lands the first blow and who lands the last is the question this step exists to ask. ### Sunderland -- at home - **Goals a game:** Scores 1.1 and concedes 1.3 a game over its last 39 league matches; at home, 1.3 for and 1.1 against over 19. - **When it scores:** Of 43 scored across its own 39 matches with times recorded: 1-15: 2; 16-30: 7; 31-45+: 5; 46-60: 6; 61-75: 10; 76-90+: 13. Its heaviest scoring spell is after the 75th minute -- 13 of 43 (30%). - **When it concedes:** Of 50 conceded across its own 39 matches with times recorded: 1-15: 8; 16-30: 6; 31-45+: 10; 46-60: 8; 61-75: 9; 76-90+: 9. - **The first goal:** Scored first in 13 of its 39 read -- then won 8, drew 5, lost 0; conceded first in 22 -- pulled back 6 wins and 3 draws from them. Across every match where it trailed at some stage it recovered 22 points. - **Two-goal swings:** Led by two goals at some point in 5 of its 39 read, winning 5 of them; trailed by two in 10, rescuing 1 result; was ahead at some point without winning in 5. ### Fulham -- away - **Goals a game:** Scores 1.3 and concedes 1.4 a game over its last 39 league matches; away, 0.9 for and 1.6 against over 19. - **When it scores:** Of 49 scored across its own 39 matches with times recorded: 1-15: 6; 16-30: 4; 31-45+: 9; 46-60: 7; 61-75: 9; 76-90+: 14. Its heaviest scoring spell is after the 75th minute -- 14 of 49 (29%). - **When it concedes:** Of 54 conceded across its own 39 matches with times recorded: 1-15: 2; 16-30: 10; 31-45+: 12; 46-60: 14; 61-75: 4; 76-90+: 12. - **The first goal:** Scored first in 16 of its 39 read -- then won 12, drew 1, lost 3; conceded first in 21 -- pulled back 3 wins and 4 draws from them. Across every match where it trailed at some stage it recovered 14 points. - **Two-goal swings:** Led by two goals at some point in 8 of its 39 read, winning 8 of them; trailed by two in 10, rescuing nothing; was ahead at some point without winning in 4. ## Step 4 of 4 — The bookies' favourite markets **Averaging the two sides' own rates: over 2.5 goals in 49% of their games, both teams scoring in 51%, and a two-goal lead for one side or the other in 47%. On the record there is no strong lean either way on goals.** Step four is THE BOOKIES' FAVOURITE MARKETS -- over and under, both teams to score, and the two-goal lead that pays the 2UP offer out early -- read from what these two sides have actually produced, with the denominator on every figure. Still no price: these are the match's tendencies, not its odds. How the counting works, once for the whole step: every figure is counted over ONE side's own matches -- Sunderland's numbers over its games, Fulham's over its own. The two clubs are never pooled into one denominator; where a single figure for this fixture is wanted, it is the AVERAGE of the two sides' rates, and says so. For the 2UP offer the fact that matters is a two-goal lead for one team or the other at ANY point, not the final margin. In Sunderland's own 19 home matches read, one appeared in 7 (37%). In Fulham's own 19 away matches read, 11 (58%). Averaging the two sides' rates -- never pooling their matches -- that is 47% of games. ### Sunderland -- at home - **Over and under:** Over 2.5 goals in 18 of its own 39 (46%); over 1.5 in 28 (72%); over 3.5 in 7 (18%). At home: over 2.5 in 9 of its 19 (47%). - **Both teams to score:** Both teams scored in 19 of its own 39 (49%). At home: 9 of its 19 (47%). - **Clean sheets and blanks:** Kept a clean sheet in 11 of its own 39 (28%); failed to score in 13 (33%). - **Two goals clear:** Counted over Sunderland's own 39 matches read: Sunderland or the side it was playing that day went two goals up in 15 (38%). Sunderland itself held the lead in 5, winning 5. In its home matches: one side or the other went two up in 7 of 19. ### Fulham -- away - **Over and under:** Over 2.5 goals in 20 of its own 39 (51%); over 1.5 in 28 (72%); over 3.5 in 10 (26%). Away: over 2.5 in 9 of its 19 (47%). - **Both teams to score:** Both teams scored in 21 of its own 39 (54%). Away: 10 of its 19 (53%). - **Clean sheets and blanks:** Kept a clean sheet in 9 of its own 39 (23%); failed to score in 11 (28%). - **Two goals clear:** Counted over Fulham's own 39 matches read: Fulham or the side it was playing that day went two goals up in 18 (46%). Fulham itself held the lead in 8, winning 8. In its away matches: one side or the other went two up in 11 of 19. ## Your appraisal — and now the market **The table makes Sunderland the bigger side: 7th against 11th of 20 last season. Against the block the other keeps: Sunderland takes 1.67 points a game, Fulham 1.54 -- nothing between them. +0.84 points a game is the venue form gap, in Sunderland's favour: Sunderland takes 1.74 a game at home over the last two seasons, Fulham 0.89 away. Sunderland scores heaviest in the 76-90+ spell and concedes heaviest in 31-45+; Fulham scores heaviest in 76-90+ and concedes heaviest in 46-60. Averaging the two sides' own rates: over 2.5 goals in 49% of their games, both teams scoring in 51%, and a two-goal lead for one side or the other in 47%. On the record there is no strong lean either way on goals.** If the pattern holds -- and a pattern is a shape, not a promise: the first blow is even money on the record (13 of 39 and 16 of 39); Sunderland finds its goals latest of all -- 13 of its 43 after the 75th; Fulham finds its goals latest of all -- 14 of its 49 after the 75th. That read is built from the four steps, with no price in your ear -- the steps hold the evidence if you want the post-mortem. Now the market gets its say. Where it agrees with you it got there first; where it does not, your read and the crowd's disagree -- that is the conversation this tool exists to set up, and no measured edge backs either side of it. The tissue is a plain goals model: Sunderland 1.44 goals expected, Fulham 0.87, from two seasons of scoring rates (19 home matches and 19 away in the bank), shrunk toward the division average. It is calibrated against nothing and claims no edge -- it exists to make your view concrete before the market speaks. - **Match result:** Our tissue: Sunderland 1.99 (50%), the draw 3.72 (27%), Fulham 4.39 (23%). The market's averages: 2.45, 3.20 and 3.03. The widest gap is on Fulham: the market is shorter (3.03) than our 4.39 -- it rates that outcome more than we do. - **Over or under 2.5 goals:** Our tissue: over 2.5 2.46 (41%), under 2.5 1.68 (59%). The market's averages: over 2.5 2.10, under 2.5 1.73. The market is shorter than our number on over 2.5. - **Both teams to score:** Our tissue: yes 2.26 (44%), no 1.80 (56%). The market's averages: yes 1.76, no 1.95. The market is shorter than our number on yes. - **The 2UP fact:** For the 2UP offer the fact that matters is a two-goal lead for one team or the other at ANY point, not the final margin. In Sunderland's own 19 home matches read, one appeared in 7 (37%). In Fulham's own 19 away matches read, 11 (58%). Averaging the two sides' rates -- never pooling their matches -- that is 47% of games. No tissue is offered for this -- the played-match rates above are the honest read. The market figures are the AVERAGE pre-match odds our feed records across books, not a best price -- a shaded average, so small gaps mean nothing. ## Half-time The HTML page reads the second half from any half-time score you give it: /football/wizard/epl/2026-08-30/sunderland-v-fulham/halftime/ Built 2026-08-30T05:33:06+00:00 from matches completed before kick-off.