Where are Sunderland predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League?
Sunderland will travel to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday looking to complete a league double over Premier League rivals AFC Bournemouth.
The Black Cats claimed a 3-2 home win against the Cherries back in November as Enzo Le Fee, Bertrand Traore and Brian Brobbey all found the net to help Regis Le Bris’ side produce a stunning turnaround in fortunes after Amine Adli and Tyler Adams has put the visitors firmly in control with two goals inside the opening quarter of an hour.
That Wearside win helped Sunderland bounce back from a narrow defeat at Fulham just a week earlier - and the Black Cats find themselves in a similar situation after they suffered a home loss against the Cottagers last weekend. There is no doubt Sunderland are in their most difficult spell since returning to the Premier League and they make the long trip to the South Coast on the back of claiming just two wins in their last 11 league games.
Despite that underwhelming run of form, the Black Cats still sit just four points adrift of the European places and could still push for the top seven between now and the end of the season - but where are Le Bris’ men predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League? We take a look at the latest predicted final table provided by the stats experts at Opta.
Opta’s predicted final Premier League table
Nilson Anguloplaceholder image
Nilson Angulo | Getty Images
1st: Arsenal - 81.71 points
2nd: Manchester City - 75.82 points
3rd: Aston Villa - 69.68 points
4th: Liverpool - 64.57 points
5th: Manchester United - 64.51 points
6th: Chelsea - 61.16 points
7th: Brentford - 55.92 points
8th: Bournemouth - 53.65 points
9th: Newcastle United - 52.76 points
10th: Fulham - 51.65 points
11th: Everton - 50.05 points
12th: Brighton and Hove Albion - 49.88 points
13th: Sunderland - 47.80 points
14th: Crystal Palace - 47.59 points
15th: Leeds United - 45.23 points
16th: Tottenham Hotspur - 43.33 points
17th: Nottingham Forest - 39.21 points
18th: West Ham United - 35.88 points
19th: Burnley - 29.04 points
20th: Wolverhampton Wanderers - 19.47 points
What has Regis Le Bris said about Bournemouth v Sunderland?
Sunderland will look to continue their consolidation in the Premier League this summer.placeholder image
Sunderland will look to continue their consolidation in the Premier League this summer. | AFP via Getty Images
Speaking about the Black Cats set-piece issues ahead of the trip to the Vitality Stadium, Le Bris said: “It's hard to say, but we worked hard this week about this topic. Not only because we faced a big problem, but we need to evolve as well as the staff. And when you reach a certain level and it's not enough, you have to work harder to reach the next level.
“First part: probably the opponent. They analyse our set-ups and they try to find the best way to threaten us. Dan Ballard, for example, is often targeted defensively and offensively, this is really clear. Our delivery wasn't really good against Fulham, so it's important to work on that as well. And probably we need to evolve sometimes to make it less predictable for the opponent, so it's an evolution.”
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