From rock bottom to the Champions League places, Sunderland marched into Stamford Bridge and left with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea. When the Black Cats got promoted back to the Premier League, there was hope that after making interesting transfers, they’d find their stride and avoid a third consecutive season during which all three newly promoted teams were relegated from the Premier League, but now they can do something that hasn’t been done since 2020-21 by, fellow Premier League returnee Leeds United.
That’s the last time that a newly promoted side finished in the top half of the Premier League. It was done by Wolverhampton, Sheffield United, and Leeds between 2018 and 2021, but hasn’t been accomplished since, with the gap between the Premier League and the Championship growing wider by the season, with increased spending in the top flight. But even predicting a resurgence this year from promoted sides, Sunderland, the third team promoted, winning their place through the Championship playoffs, would’ve been one of the most unlikely suspects.
The Black Cats were last in the Premier League in the 2016-17 season before a quick fall happened, going down from the Championship all the way to League One. That stay in League One was a lengthy one as well, with it lasting four seasons before spending three seasons in the Championship. Even for a well-known club, that’s enough to break things apart, but not for Sunderland with a blend of youth and experience leading them.
Adding Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen has transformed the club’s midfield, but even players like Chemsdine Talbi are new to the club. With Wilson Isador scoring the opening goal after being involved in their promotion campaign from the Championship, it shows the balance of adding new players to the club while keeping experience from those who got them here to create a balanced squad.
Going into Stamford Bridge for a win is the biggest win so far this season for the Black Cats, putting them on 17 points. With the magic number for Premier League safety usually being 40 points, they’re almost halfway to that target under Regis Le Bris. There’s nothing better than quickly collecting Premier League points because those can’t be taken away from you, and doing so is giving Sunderland more confidence by the day.
Defensively, they’ve been among the best teams in the league, only allowing seven goals and looking at their expected goals allowed of 10, while they’re overperforming, it’s not by enough that would suggest that the wheels will fall off this team. With contributions from everywhere in the attack, there’s also no over-reliance on one player either.
In a season where teams like Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, and Wolves are all in the relegation zone, if there’s a time for Sunderland to break into the top half, it’s now. There’s still plenty of the season to play ou,t but they’ve already announced that the Black Cats are back, now they need to prove that they’re here to stay.
