How Sunderland’s xG performance compares to their Premier League rivals as they return to club action.
Sunderland have started this season as the pick of the newly promoted sides, sitting in the top half of the table as the Premier League returns this weekend.
Regis Le Bris will be delighted with how his side has coped with the demands of the top-flight so far, having won three, drawn two and lost two from their opening seven games. As club football returns, Sunderland face Wolves at the Stadium of Light, a huge chance to pick up three more points against the side that is winless and bottom of the league, and push themselves closer to their main ambition of survival this season, even at this early stage.
Sunderland have had a respectable and efficient return of seven goals scored and just six goals conceded. When comparing that defensive record to the other newly promoted sides, Leeds have conceded 11 and Burnley 15 on the back of some damaging defeats to the league’s top sides. But how much longer can we expect Le Bris’ side to keep up this promising start, and do the underlying statistics reflect a drop off occurring at some point soon?
Sunderland’s defence is mixing it with the big boys
It may be surprising that a newly promoted Sunderland defence might be putting up similar numbers to the league’s biggest sides, but on expected goals against (xGA), they sit in 7th place with 9.06 xGA. This is behind Newcastle, Arsenal, Bournemouth, Manchester City, Leeds United, and Tottenham Hotspur, but ahead of some of the league’s heavy hitters in Liverpool, Chelsea, and well ahead of Manchester United, whose defence sits in 17th.
However, this indicates that Sunderland should have conceded around three goals more than they have so far, so maybe they are riding their luck somewhat but their defence still ranks among the best in the league and their results have reflected that so far. They have not conceded more than two in a league game so far this season and a solid backline could be the bedrock to the Mackems having a memorable first season back where they feel they belong.
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Room for improvement in attack
Wilson Isidor of Sunderland celebrates.placeholder image
Wilson Isidor of Sunderland celebrates. | Getty Images.
Sunderland’s strength in defending is not matched by the level of their attacking, as they sit in 14th place for goals scored, and their expected goals (xG) makes for even worse reading as it ranks 17th in the division at 7.46. This means that they are underperforming in attack, but not by much, which is concerning.
There are no outliers for sides at the bottom of the attacking ranking with Wolves, Burnley, West Ham and Nottingham Forest below Sunderland. However, Thomas Frank’s Tottenham are only one place above Sunderland and are massively overperforming the data with 13 goals from an xG of 7.46.
The sides creating the most chances are not taking them, with Crystal Palace and Manchester United, the top two, underperforming in front of goal by 5.54 and 4.97, respectively.
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