Welcome to another edition of Roker Riches, as we look smilingly back on two (in places gritty but crucial) away wins, and look ahead to the first home league game in a while, versus Charlton.

After reinstating winning momentum against Lincoln and Man Utd under 21s in the trophy and qualifying for the knockouts early, we fans hoped that would transfer into a strong league rebound after Fratton Park... and how well did they do that!

With ground-out points and clean sheets added to this team’s experience set, we return to the top two slots, with games in hand on everyone around us bar Wigan, who have lost two of the last four so are fading a little. The future looks bright.

Photo by Will Matthews/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As was the case pre-Gillingham, the two sides are well separated in the league table, with Charlton sitting 22nd on 9 points. The lads are second by a point to Plymouth and are on more than 3 times the Charlton total, at 28.

We saw how league position can be deceiving away at The Gills, so we need to treat this game with all the respect of every other, while hopefully putting on a show for about 30k plus of the home faithful. Charlton are on a terrible run with wins very few and far between, whether at home or away. We need to despatch these while we are hot and they are not.

No pressure, lads…

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The Roker Riches table...

Only Danny had any luck last weekend with bets, bringing in a decent return on his Sunderland 2-1 prediction vs Gills (and finally paying off on his strategy of repeating this bet - buy a lottery ticket with your usual numbers Danny).

Malc missed out on his Premier League Acca (again) due to Brighton not winning away at Norwich. Maybe next time.

No major changes in the table, though Danny is within a whisker of Malc at the top now, with the latter dropping back below the £300 mark.

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Banker’s Bonus...

Last week's bonus came in, so the punters in the RR team have an extra tenner to bet this week. SAFC scored 2 or more goals, and as predicted Gillingham only scored one (from the spot).

The next banker's bonus will be set next time, to enable the lads to get a top-up for the games early in November, if the banker's bonus is earned.

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This round’s bets!

Anthony Gair says...

Loch Ness Drogba Special

The Highland Haaland is on fire currently, and I expect him to carry this goal scoring form into Charlton at the weekend. 2 or more goals is 7/1 thus £10 returns £80. Get it on!

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Bet Builder Spectacular

Sunderland to win, 2.5 goals in total, BTTS, Over 10 Corners. 13/2 - £10 returns £75

Bankers Bonus - North East Special

Sunderland to win, Newcastle to get beat with both teams to score in both games is 13.4/1. £5 returns £72. BRING IT ON!

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Luke ‘Bomber’ Davies says...

Sunderland Bet Builder

After a rousing result against Gillingham in the week I expect us to carry the form through to the Charlton game with a win and another goal from Dajaku.

So my £5 bet builder is… Sunderland to Win, Over 2.5 Goals, Over 7.5 Corners, Leon Dajaku to score anytime. £5 returns £30

Win/Win League One Acca

In a vain attempt to stick to what I “know”, this week’s accumulator will be a simple League One treble. It’s made up of our promotion rivals so either they drop points (which benefits SAFC), or we’re in the money!

Wigan to win, Wycombe to win, Plymouth to win.

Photo by Jacques Feeney/Getty Images

The Banker has in his eternal generosity gifted us a bonus this week, which I’ll be adding into this treble for a nice potential return! £15 returns £101.59

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Phil Butler says...

Sunderland to win first half second half, and O’Brien to score. At 6-1 this has to be worth a fiver of anyone’s money. Fiver returns £35.

Italy pair

Juve and Napoli to win away to Inter and Roma. Bankers Bonus Tenner returns £83.30

Prem Treble

Everton, Wolves and Palace all to win this weekend. Fiver returns £47.54.

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Paul Fletcher says…

Sunderland to win 5-1:

The last time Charlton failed to score was on the 21st August. The last time they kept a clean sheet was on the 28th August. The form book says that both teams will probably score in this game and I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Charlton get the first goal. However, I’m confident that one of the best attacking sides in the division will score plenty against one of the worst defences in the division. A 5-1 victory returns twice as much as the 4-1 victory I was originally thinking of so I hope our attacking players are as greedy for goals as I am greedy for profits. £5 returns £255

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Away day treble:

Swansea to make it three Championship wins in a row against an out-of-form Birmingham city. Plymouth to keep their noses in front of us at the top of the league by picking up three points when they visit Morecambe, the team with the leakiest defense in League One. And finally in League Two, Sutton to get back to winning ways against a Rochdale side who have only managed to find the net twice in their last five league outings. £5 returns £111.97

Banker’s Bonus - Goals on Sunday:

I’ve decided to invest my bonus tenner on an over 2.5 goals fivefold. I don’t care who wins, I don’t mind if both teams score, I just need three or more goals in the following games from around Europe; Cologne vs Bayer Leverkusen, Verona vs Lazio, Cambuur vs Feyenoord, Salzburg vs Sturm Graz and Marseille vs PSG. £10 returns £84.94

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Danny Roberts says...

Sunderland to win 2-1 and Ross Stewart to score anytime: My 2-1 bet strategy finally got the win that I knew it would! So, let’s stick to the same this week but add in the big man to bag at any time. £5 returns £70.

EFL trio: Luton to pick up all three points against Hull, Ipswich to continue their 4-game unbeaten run by easing past Fleetwood and Sheffield Wednesday to beat a poor Lincoln City side. £10 returns £76.91.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Bankers Bonus: I’ll go for a risky Premier League quadruple for my free £5 bet: Crystal Palace to pile more misery on to the murderous regime, Everton to beat Watford, and Southampton and Leeds to both draw their games against Burnley and Wolves. £5 returns £231.32.

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Malc Dugdale says...

Prem treble (again)

For a couple of the recent weeks I have missed out on one leg of these, so I’m going again and with the law of averages it may come off.

Chelsea, Palace and Man City all to win versus Norwich, the Scum and Brighton respectively. Just over 2-1 odds returns £62 for £20 down (a tenner plus the additional bonus tenner from the banker).

Sunderland to win 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2

The lads often have a hum-dinger against the Athletic, and with their boss being booted out before the weekend, they will maybe have freedom and license to play and enjoy, which we will have to counter and overcome.

I’m lumping a tenner on this, as this feels like the most likely outcome for me, and at odds of 9/2, this returns a nice £55 for my ten quid investment, if I am successful.

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Michael Dunne says...

Sunderland 2-0 Charlton

This is going to be a tense affair in my opinion. We always find it hard against Charlton and I don’t think it matters too much that they are struggling somewhat at present. Similar to last weeks game, I expect a cagey affair with Sunderland getting on top in the second half to get the win. Sunderland to win 2-0. £15 returns £120 @ 7/1 (including bankers tenner)

Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images

Championship under 2.5 goals

On paper, there is some tight looking games in the championship so I’ve picked three games where I do not foresee many goals in them. Birmingham V Swansea, Millwall V Stoke, Blackpool V Preston . £5 returns £23

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Please remember to gamble responsibly, and enjoy the footy!

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