Sunderland’s ‘actual Championship position’ shared by supercomputer
Sunderland currently occupy fourth place in the Championship, and it seems unlikely that they will be budged from there.
Ahead of their home encounter with Swansea City, Sunderland have very little left to play for from now until the middle of May.
Their latest 0-0 draw away to Norwich City was enough to secure their spot in the Championship playoffs with five games to go.
Very few would have anticipated the Black Cats to have such a successful campaign to date, and it appears its a similar sentiment shared by the Opta supercomputer.
Regis Le Bris has Sunderland overachieving
It would take some kind of disaster for this to change, but Sunderland are on course for their best league finish since their relegation from the Premier League.
That in itself is some achievement, with the Black Cats having picked up 76 points from 41 games, 13 more than any other non parachute team.
However, according to the data behind each encounter, Sunderland have performed much better than they are expected to have.
| Championship | W | D | L | P |
| Sunderland | 21 | 13 | 7 | 76 |
Based on xG for and against in each game so far this season, Sunderland are expected to be sixth in the Championship on 64 points. If that were to be the case, the Mackems would be just two points ahead of Norwich in seventh, and five behind Coventry, who, based on that analysis, should actually be second in the league.
Regis Le Bris’ side are outperforming their xG by eight this season, and their expected points tally by 12.
Premier League football could return to the Stadium of Light
The playoffs are always a lottery, but one that Sunderland certainly have a good chance of winning.
Sunderland have largely fared well against the teams around them in the table, while struggling against those towards the lower end of the league.
If Le Bris can get his side playing how they were earlier in the season, there is a high chance that they will be a Premier League team next season.