The Black Cats tend to take a safety-first approach and are certainly not afraid to do the dirty work, something that is reflected in their card figures this season.

Indeed, Sunderland have collected an average of 1.83 cards per game across their opening six Premier League matches.

A deeper dive into those numbers shows that Sunderland have been shown at least 2 cards in away games at both Ipswich and Brentford this season.

They also picked up 3 bookings away at Torreense in the Europa League on Thursday.

Bournemouth’s home fixtures offer further support for this selection, with 2 of the 3 Premier League sides to visit the Cherries this season picking up at least 2 bookings and Sturm Graz collecting 3 cards at the Vitality on Thursday night.

I’m expecting a close contest between Bournemouth and Sunderland on Sunday, but I think the visitors are more than capable of scoring at least once.

While Regis Le Bris’ side are not a team you would typically associate with scoring goals, they have blanked in just two of their opening six league games of the season.

Even more encouraging for this selection is that Sunderland have scored in all 3 of their Premier League away games this season, including a 5-3 defeat at Manchester City in their most recent top-flight road trip. 

The Black Cats also made the net bulge twice away at Torreense in the Europa League last time out.

As for Bournemouth, they have made a slow start to the season domestically and begin the weekend in the Premier League relegation zone.

Part of the Cherries’ early-season struggles can be attributed to their failure to keep a clean sheet in any of their six top-flight games so far, shipping five goals away at Chelsea last weekend.

Tyler Adams looks too big to ignore when it comes to committing at least two fouls during this contest.

Since being restored to the starting XI, the tough-tackling Bournemouth midfielder has been falling foul of the referee on a regular basis.

In fact, Adams has committed 11 fouls across his four Premier League starts this season.

Notably, 5 of those fouls came away at Chelsea last weekend, with the all-action American also picking up a yellow card.

He is likely to find himself operating in similar areas to Enzo Le Fee, Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki, all of whom have drawn averages north of 1.50 fouls per game for Sunderland in the Premier League this season.

This selection ties in nicely with the Adams foul bet, as I’m also keen to back Granit Xhaka to be fouled at least once.

The Sunderland captain almost always finds himself in the thick of the midfield battle, and Sunday’s clash with Bournemouth should be no different.

The combative Swiss midfielder has a real knack for winning fouls and cheap free kicks, having drawn an average of 2.00 fouls per game in the Premier League this season.

Upon closer inspection, Xhaka has been fouled at least once in all six of his top-flight appearances this term, earning his team multiple set pieces in three of those games.

He is likely to come up against the aforementioned Adams, while Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook is also prone to giving away fouls, further strengthening the case for this selection.

Ryan Christie has only featured sporadically this season so far, but with Alex Scott out injured he has been given a larger role in recent weeks. He started against Chelsea last weekend, during which he had one shot at Stamford Bridge. However, Christie seems to play with a lot more confidence in the final third at the Vitality Stadium. 

In fact, he accounted for four of Bournemouth’s nine shots against Liverpool just before the international break. Christie even scored a hat-trick against Lincoln City in the EFL Cup at the start of September. Last season, Christie had an average of 2.12 shots per 90 across all competitions, rising steeply to 3.09 when playing at home.

Nordi Mukiele has contributed consistently to that record, and he has been fouled in four of his last five starts. He is expected to fill in at centre back this weekend, as Dan Ballard remains injured, which should put him directly up against Evanilson. 

The Bournemouth striker has been leading the press for Marco Rose, and he has committed a foul in seven out of eight starts across all competitions. That includes multiple infringements in four of those. He has been aggressive up top for the Cherries, looking to make life difficult for opposing defenders, so Mukiele will have to deal with that pressure on the south coast this weekend.