Sunderland’s chances of earning promotion to the Premier League have been calculated following their excellent start to the season.
The Black Cats enjoyed a miserable 2023/24 campaign. An array of managerial changes left the club facing months of uncertainty, eventually leading to a disappointing 16th-placed finish.
The club embarked on a search for the new head coach which dragged on for months, with the club determined to get their next appointment right. Eventually, Regis Le Bris landed the role, joining from French side Lorient.
Le Bris Hits The Ground Running
Many felt that this would be a transitional season for 48-year-old. However, led by a youthful side including the likes of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham, Sunderland have so far taken the Championship by storm.
After 15 games, the Wearsiders currently sit top of the table on 31 points, level with second placed Sheffield United. They have also tasted defeat on just two occasions, a shock 3-2 reverse at Plymouth Argyle and a 2-1 loss at Watford.
Although they have drawn their last three, they are currently on an eight game unbeaten run and travel to Millwall on Saturday after a two week break.
Can Sunderland Sustain Their Good Form?
The race for promotion from the Championship is expected to be a competitive one. Alongside Sheffield United, the likes of Leeds United and Burnley are all thought to be in the mix for the title come May. In short, Sunderland are still being written off.
According to the data analysts at Opta, they will finish the campaign in fourth on 78 points, with Leeds and Sheffield United tipped to take the top two spots. Furthermore, their automatic promotion chances are calculated at just 21.76%, although their chances of reaching the play-offs increase to 58.56%.
Writer’s View
If you’d have offered Sunderland a play-off place at the beginning of the season, they’d have been delighted. However, those ambitions have raised slightly following their excellent start. Their recent trio of draws has allowed the chasing pack to close the gap and they need to find a way to navigate three points against Millwall if they are to keep up their unlikely title challenge. Still, this is a club that feel they should be in the Premier League and they will be hoping to return to the top tier for the first time since 2017.
Head of Writing
