EFL pundit delivers Sunderland promotion verdict
Second tier pundit Justin Peach believes that Sunderland will remain a title contender throughout the remainder of the Championship season.
Despite failing to win in their last three, the Black Cats remain top of the table after 15 games, heading into a gruelling December period.
Questions have been asked as to how long Sunderland can continue their impressive run and Peach thinks they will stay in contention for the remainder of the season.
Speaking on the Second Tier podcast (17 November), he said: “They deserve to be top of the table because they’ve been incredibly consistent and a very difficult team to beat, but I think we have seen some naivety drop into the performances at times.
“You go back to that Plymouth second-half performance before the first international break, and obviously the Coventry one as well.
“I do see them being a title contender as the season goes on. It’s just whether or not Leeds and Sheffield United are better than them and that might prevail over the course of the season, but this has been an incredible start.”
Sunderland have an excellent chance of promotion
Ultimately, we are past the stage of claiming it has been a good ‘start’, with 15 games already played and over 32 per cent of the season completed, Sunderland are where they deserve to be.
Early form can often be misleading but this far way through a season, the table doesn’t tell many lies.
Under Regis Le Bris, Sunderland as a whole have been excellent barring a few under-par performances but with several players still to come back from injury, the Black Cats are in a very good place.
Despite it being a young squad, many of the current crop of players have plenty of Championship experience with the ability to go with it.
January could prove to be the most important part of the season, with several players linked with exits while plenty of players will inevitably be linked with a Wearside switch as Sunderland look to boost their chances of a Premier League return.
Jobe Bellingham, recently linked with Borrusia Dortmund (The Sun) and Chris Rigg, linked with Manchester United (Sunderland AFC News), will be the two players to keep a close eye on as the window approaches.
In other Sunderland news, Dan Ballard was named as Northern Ireland’s Man of the Match in their 2-0 win over Belarus on Friday night, his performance will have pleased Le Bris.
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