Sunderland will face Premier League rivals Burnley at the Stadium of Light on Monday night.
The Sky Sports cameras will be on hand as the Black Cats look to secure all three points and move to within touching distance of the European places as a remarkable return to the top flight continues to play out. The likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United have all failed to collect maximum points from their trips to Wearside this season and it seems certain that home form will continue to provide solid foundations for Sunderland’s push for a top half finish at least.
The meeting with Burnley offers an intriguing insight into how the Black Cats’ season could have played out as last season’s Championship runners-up continue to battle against relegation and an immediate return to the second tier. The Clarets are sitting second from bottom in the table and are now ten points from safety ahead of their visit to the Stadium of Light and have a lot of work to do.
But how could Sunderland and Burnley fare during the remainder of the season and where are they predicted to finish in this season’s final Premier League table? We take a look at the latest predicted final Premier League table provided by the stats experts at Opta.
Opta’s latest predicted final Premier League table
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Frank Reid
1st: Arsenal - 82 points 2nd: Aston Villa - 73 points 3rd: Manchester City - 72 points 4th: Liverpool - 63 points 5th: Chelsea - 63 points 6th: Manchester United - 60 points 7th: Newcastle United - 53 points 8th: Fulham - 53 points 9th: Brentford - 53 points 10th: AFC Bournemouth - 52 points 11th: Everton - 51 points 12th: Brighton and Hove Albion - 51 points 13th: Sunderland - 50 points 14th: Tottenham Hotspur - 48 points 15th: Crystal Palace - 47 points 16th: Nottingham Forest - 44 points 17th: Leeds United - 42 points 18th: West Ham United - 34 points 19th: Burnley - 29 points 20th: Wolverhampton Wanderers - 20 points
What has Regis Le Bris said about Sunderland v Burnley?
The latest transfer rumours from Sunderland ahead of deadline dayplaceholder image
The latest transfer rumours from Sunderland ahead of deadline day | Getty Images
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Black Cats boss said: “This is the Premier League. They are struggling in the league but still doing well. They’ve drawn three times in a row and deserved at least two wins I think, after reviewing the games. So, they are doing well but probably with a lack of efficiency which is often the case. They can build up play under pressure, they can go direct, they have an efficient high press, so it is a question of detail. Key moments will define this game once again. For us, we lost against West Ham and it wasn’t our best version, the intensity wasn’t high enough. We reviewed the game and the lads have trained well, so now words are words but it’s time to go back to our stadium and show that we are at the level.”
When asked if a response was required from his side, he said: “Absolutely, it is always the case. After a win you don’t want to step back, after a defeat you want to react quickly. This is the normal journey. Emotions are there, when you lose you are always a bit negative but we have had time to recover and reset. I hope we will be at our best against Burnley.”
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