Sunderland win continues strong start for promoted trio

Six games into nan play and Sunderland are flying precocious successful nan Premier League.

After 8 years away, nan Black Cats are enjoying being backmost successful nan large time, pinch triumph astatine Nottingham Forest lifting them into nan Champions League places.

Few would expect them still to beryllium location travel May, but pinch 3 wins nether their loop already, Regis le Bris' broadside person each logic to beryllium optimistic.

"We cognize to beryllium competitory successful this convention we person to activity together, to suffer together," Le Bris told Sky Sports aft nan 1-0 triumph astatine nan City Ground.

"I americium really proud for that because we defended really good and our 5 subs helped a lot. With nan shot I deliberation location is still room for improvement."

Room for betterment - but already a showing to propose location won't beryllium a repetition of nan past 2 Premier League seasons, erstwhile each 3 promoted teams person gone consecutive backmost down.

Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland person taken a mixed 23 points from their opening six games, making it nan champion commencement to a Premier League play by nan promoted sides since 2017-18.

In fact, only 5 times successful Premier League history person nan promoted sides made a amended commencement to a season.

Such a beardown commencement bodes good for their chances of endurance arsenic successful each run wherever nan promoted sides person started truthful strongly, astatine slightest 2 of nan 3 person stayed up astatine nan extremity of nan season.

"There is simply a really agelong measurement to spell - we are conscionable a fewer games successful but we person to observe each bully infinitesimal and move connected to nan adjacent one," Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs told Sky Sports.

Sunderland person made nan champion commencement of nan three, accruing 11 points from their opening six games, which is nan astir immoderate promoted broadside has taken successful 13 years, since West Ham did nan aforesaid successful 2012-13.

Only 2 promoted sides person ever made a amended commencement to a Premier League play and some of those were successful nan early years of nan title erstwhile nan spread betwixt nan established and promoted sides was arguably not arsenic significant.

A weird quirk is that of nan 7 teams to grounds 11-plus points successful nan first six games, six of them - including Sunderland - were play-off winners.

While each broadside that has started a Premier League play pinch arsenic galore points arsenic Sunderland has survived.

A connection of informing for Black Cats fans, however, arsenic Hull did only negociate to guarantee endurance connected nan last time successful 2008-09, staying up pinch conscionable 35 points.

So why person this season's trio started truthful overmuch amended than Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton 12 months ago?

Because they've been overmuch much successful astatine keeping Premier League guidance astatine bay, conceding 8 less goals and giving up 32 less chances betwixt them.

While this season's promoted sides haven't really created overmuch much than past season's trio, they've been much objective truthful far, scoring 3 much goals contempt taking conscionable 9 much shots and generating a akin value of chances successful position of expected goals.