A crucial figure suggests that Sunderland is in a “false position” in the Championship.
With one area significantly underperforming, Sunderland is well below where they should be in the league this season, according to the Championship xG table.
At Sunderland, the 2023–24 season is set to come to an unimpressive conclusion. Even though the season began with such promise, viewers will soon wish for it to vanish from their minds.
Sunderland’s only realistic goal in the last three games might be to finish in the top half, even if supporters at the Stadium of Light still harbor dreams of promotion to the Premier League.
The chaotic mid-season performance that resulted in the dismissals of Michael Beale and Tony Mowbray is largely to blame for this.Since then, Mike Dodds has temporarily assumed the role, but the outcomes remain unchanged.
According to a particular metric, Sunderland is really in the wrong place and ought to be far higher up the table.
Sunderland ought to be a playoff team.
xG is one significant metric that clubs employ today all around the world. This shows how many goals a team ought to score or give up during a league season.
Multiple leagues, including the Championship, gather these stats.
Sunderland has an xG of 1.52 and an xGA of 1.2 on average per game, according FootyStats. The team would be in fifth place and comfortably within the playoffs if they were to routinely achieve this criterion. The current top four teams are the only ones that might rank higher than Sunderland.
This shows that a lot of the strategies used during the season are effective; the issue is that first-team players aren’t able to put them into practice.
These numbers point to a situation that has to be addressed right now because it has clearly cost the team a postseason berth this year.
The Sunderland team has been let down by its attackers.
This season, Sunderland’s offensive line has been ineffective. Throughout the season, the team has only managed to score 52 goals in the Championship.
However, the team is underperforming this by 10.02, which is the fifth-worst in the division, according to WhoScored.
The inability of the attacker to convert their opportunities has obviously hurt the Black Cats, especially in light of how tight several of Sunderland’s games have been.
Twelve of Sunderland’s Championship games in 2024 alone were decided by one goal or fewer. In ten of these games, the Black Cats were either defeated or forced to draw.
It is therefore clear where these extra points would come from if the attackers were able to finish off their opportunities in these close games.
In the summer, a new striker is imperative.
It is obvious that new attackers need to be brought in, even if Sunderland supporters will be primarily focused on a new manager this summer.
The club will have enough of resources to assemble a new offensive lineup if they opt to cash in on the persistent links between Jack Clarke and Josh Bellingham.
If Sunderland’s performance is as poor, they cannot hope to be promoted the following season.
Targets should hopefully already be set so that the new manager will have plenty of time to assemble his new team when he takes over.
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