Sunderland: An ‘unbelievable start’ – but how have the Black Cats done it?

To put Sunderland’s start into context, it’s worth remembering how the Black Cats defied expectations to get back to the top.

Regis le Bris’ side finished 24 points behind Burnley and Leeds in the automatic promotion spots and have scored just 58 goals in 46 games.

They needed an injury-time winner to get past Coventry in the play-off semi-finals and were clear underdogs against Sheffield United, who finished 14 points ahead of the Black Cats in the final at Wembley.

But Sunderland showed their resilience once again by coming from behind in the final to score another injury-time winner through Tom Watson to regain top-flight status for the first time in eight years.

This makes the start of the season even more impressive.

Sunderland’s 17 points from nine games so far have matched the points tally from the 1999-00 season, making it the Black Cats’ equally best start to the Premier League.

Only five newly promoted teams have won more points in their first nine games than Sunderland have this season.

Five of these teams, including Sunderland in 2000, managed to avoid relegation.

“Anybody honest enough will say they never expected Sunderland to start this well, so full credit to them,” Michael Carrick told BBC Radio 5 Live after the win at Chelsea.

“The points they have accumulated have given them an incredible start and it is something they will want to build on.

“For a long time they looked pretty relaxed and calm, but they also looked dangerous. They kept that belief to win.

“This is arguably a textbook win away from home in a bigger team.”