Will Sunderland Avoid Relegation Again?

“We must turn things around and avoid relegation,” David Moyes said in an interview after his team’s another defeat in The Premier League. This time The Black Cats lost to Manchester City at home and left in the last 20th position in the standings of the most competitive division in the world.

Usually, Sunderland manages to avoid relegation in the very last rounds of The Premier League, but with the more rounds have passed this time the task looks much more difficult… The team lost 3 consecutive matches and the David Moyes’ players are now 6 points down from the 17th-placed Crystal Palace. Moreover, the schedule isn’t easy at all for Sunderland.

To continue with, there are 3 games I am sure The Black Cats won’t take any point from – against Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea. They will also have to visit Middlesbrough, Watford, Leicester City and Hull City – and you know The Black Cats have lost 10 of 13 visits this season, so don’t expect them to record more than 1 away victory until the end of the campaign.

So, the opportunity for Sunderland to win the crucial points is from the home games against Burnley, Swansea City, West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth. However, I don’t think they will win all of these games either. They have already lost 8 of 14 matches at The Stadium of Light, which is 57% of the games, which means they will eventually win once, draw once and lose 2 of these home games.

At both ends, Sunderland have now 19 points, which combined with the possible 8 points I think they will earn by the end of the season, means they will finish with 27 points, probably at the bottom of the table. So, if Moyes wants to see his team in The Premier League next season, he must do something extraordinary.