To some, Sunderland were effectively cannon fodder following their promotion from the Championship.
For starters, each of the six promoted teams over the previous two Premier League seasons had gone straight back down after most went up with relative ease, so that was hardly a good omen. Similarly, Sunderland – promoted via the play-offs – went up with just 76 points; only four teams since 2004-05 have reached the Premier League with fewer, the most recent being Crystal Palace (72) in 2012-13.
We should also bear in mind that Sunderland overhauled their squad to a significant degree, and successfully gelling so many new players together in a short period of time is no mean feat.
But Régis Le Bris’ side have confounded all expectations, with Sunday’s 1-0 Tyne-Wear derby win over Newcastle leaving them seventh in the table on 26 points after 16 matches. Not only is that respectively 10 and 16 points more than fellow promoted sides Leeds and Burnley, but it’s already a greater total than Leicester City (25), Ipswich Town (22) and Southampton (12) managed in the entirety of 2024-25.
Concerns had developed in some quarters about a supposedly ever-widening gap between the Premier League and the Championship, but Sunderland have given others hope, not just because they’ve been competitive, but by threatening to challenge for Europe.
So, just how unusual has their adaptation to the top flight been?
Well, in the history of the Premier League, only six promoted teams have ever taken more than 26 points from their first 16 matches in a season. Five of them were before the turn of the century, with the most recent being Ipswich Town in 2000-01 – they had 27 points at this stage and went on to finish fifth.
The record actually belongs to Sunderland, as they had 31 points at this stage in 1999-00 before coming seventh, so they have something to aspire to.
Le Bris’ side could be seen as the antithesis of the teams who’d failed so miserably to stay up over the two prior seasons. Expansive football was key to some of those clubs earning promotion, but none of them were able to successfully prioritise being difficult to beat once they were up.
Sunderland, on the other hand, weren’t a typically dominant team in their promotion campaign. As already pointed out, their points tally was pretty low, and then in terms of the football they played, dominating the ball wasn’t the aim. Their 48.7% possession was only the 13th highest in the division, and it’s come down to 42.4% this term – the fourth lowest in the Premier League.