Sunderland Premier League Preview

Sunderland finished 10^th last season in the Premier League but they could have easily been higher or even lower. During the first half of their campaign they started out well, picking up a handful of wins and a few respectable draws against the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool to put themselves right in contention for a European spot. They even recorded an amazing a 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in November with a wonderful performance where they played the 2009/2010 champions off the park.

The Black Cats seemed to be cruising but then Darren Bent submitted a transfer request in January and was off to Aston Villa for £18 million. This is when the side began to fall apart and they lost eight of their next nine matches in a horrendous run of form where they couldn’t score and unable to pick up a victory for three months. They did, however, steady the ship in the remaining few fixtures and got the victories which pushed them back up to 10^th.

Steve Bruce will be hoping to start the new season off just like the last one with some good results against top sides but he will know that they cannot suffer another embarrassingly dreadful run like last season. What seemed to happen to the relatively young team last year was that they got complacent after their Chelsea victory and thought they would easily survive in the top half of the table for the rest of the season, challenging for a Europa League place. It was the wrong mentality and the team slid towards the relegation zone over the next few months.

To combat this temperament within the squad, Steve Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn have brought in John O’Shea and Wes Brown from Man United, two seasoned players who know what it takes to consistently win in the Premier League. Their experience will be vital in helping Sunderland realise their ambitions and push forward this season.

Bruce did lose Jordan Henderson to Liverpool this summer but Sunderland should be able to survive in midfield with new recruits Darren Gibson from Manchester United, Birmingham’s Craig Gardner and Darren Vaugh from Blackpool. In all, the manager has drafted in nine new signings so Sunderland fans should be excited to see what this new crop of players can produce for the season ahead.

Sunderland look like a good bet to claim a top-10 finish at Evens with Bet365 and also are a good bet at 6/1 in Premier League betting without the big-6.