Sunderland’s final league position predicted by supercomputer after Fulham defeat
Sunderland are not expected to be near the relegation zone come the end of the season.
Sunderland suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Fulham on Saturday, with a late Raul Jimenez goal securing all three points for the hosts in what was a deserved win.
The Black Cats were simply not at the races, with a lot of that down to Regis Le Bris’ decision to utilise a back five against a side that Sunderland were capable of matching.
It ended the Wearsider’s four-game unbeaten run, though it did little to push them closer to the relegation zone.
Safety beckons for the Black Cats despite Fulham failures
Avoiding relegation was always going to be the aim for Sunderland, who are already over halfway to the points tally that Opta‘s supercomputer thinks it will take to stay in the Premier League.
Wolves, Burnley and Leeds are the three predicted to go down, with the latter of the trio forecasted to finish on 34 points.
That would mean that Sunderland need just 16 points from the next 26 league games to stay in the Premier League, though they are predicted to pick up another 26 points.
If these predictions were to come true, it would see the Black Cats finish 14th on 45 points, ahead of Fulham, Nottingham Forest and West Ham, and three points behind Everton in 13th.
Sunderland’s chances of relegation are at just 9.47 per cent, with their ambitious hopes of qualifying for Europe at 0.54 per cent.
Sunderland on course for best Premier League finish since 2012
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has high ambitions for Sunderland, and that will only play into their hands in the future.
However, the key to reaching that goal will be marginal gains, and if Sunderland finish the season as expected, it would be their highest points tally from a Premier League campaign since the 2011-12 season, where they also picked up 45 points.
The Black Cats won 11 games that season and finished in 13th under Martin O’Neill.
Their best points tally since then in a Premier League campaign was 39 the following season.
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