Sunderland win continues strong start for promoted trio

Sunderland are dominating the Premier League after six games.

The Black Cats are now enjoying being back in the spotlight after eight years, with victories over Nottingham Forest putting them in the Champions League top four.

Few would anticipate them remaining there in May, but Regis le Bris’ side has every reason to be optimistic with three victories already in hand.

After the City Ground’s 1-0 victory, Le Bris said, “We know we have to work together, to suffer together.”

“We defended really well and our five subs really helped,” I’m proud of it. I believe there could still be improvement with the ball.

Although there is room for improvement, the current performance suggests that there won’t be another Premier League season when all three promoted teams have already fallen.

Only five times have the promoted teams started the season with a better start.

At least two of the three promoted sides have continued to perform well after the end of the season because a strong start to the campaign indicates how well their chances of survival are improving.

Sunderland have started the best of the three, collecting 11 points from their first six games, which is the most any promoted side has scored in 13 years, compared to West Ham, who did the same in 2012-13.

Only two promoted teams have ever started a Premier League season with a better start, and both did so in the early stages of the competition, where the gap between the promoted and established teams was arguably less significant.

The odd thing is that of the seven teams that had 11 or more points in their first six games, Sunderland was one of them.

While Sunderland and every other Premier League team have already accumulated points, this is not true.

Why, then, has the trio from this season started so much better than Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton did a year ago?

Because they have allowed 32 fewer chances to score eight goals and conceded eight fewer goals in their series of matches, which has resulted in significantly more success keeping Premier League opponents at bay.