Sunderland took another big step towards promotion on New Year’s Day with a huge victory over Sheffield United.
Coming off the back of dropping four points in the last two games, Sunderland needed a reaction against fellow promotion-chasers, Sheffield United.
Thankfully, Regis Le Bris got that, and then some. His team managed to grind out a gritty 2-1 win against the Blades to maintain the incredible unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light this season, and close the gap at the top of the Championship table.
As far as Chris Mepham is concerned, the win is a ‘massive’ signal of intent as to how far Sunderland can go this season, and could be crucial to helping them put together a winning run now.
Chris Mepham thinks win vs Sheffield United could be huge for Sunderland’s season
Speaking to Sky Sports directly after the game, Mepham discussed the importance of the three points in the context of the bigger picture in the promotion race, and suggested it could be the catalyst for greater things to come for the Sunderland squad.
Mepham said: “Yeah, it’s massive, especially the way the results went for us tonight. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we had that today. Patterson saved the penalty. If that goes in, obviously it’s a different game. It’s a really big momentum result and hopefully, now we can kick on.”
With Leeds United and Burnley both dropping points, and Sheffield United of course losing, the win takes Sunderland within two points of the automatic promotion places, with Leeds still five points ahead of the Mackems at the top of the table.
- READ MORE: Chris Mepham praises Sunderland for overcoming ‘massive test’ with unusual win vs Sheffield United
Can Sunderland actually win the title this season?
It was unthinkable at the start of the season, but Sunderland are right on track for promotion as things stand.
Not only that, but they’ve once again pulled off a great result against one of the top teams in the division — Sunderland have now beaten Burnley and the Blades, and drawn against Leeds this term.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 25 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 45 | 16 | 29 | 52 |
| 2 |  BurnleyBurnley | 25 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 49 |
| 3 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 25 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 49 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 25 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 38 | 22 | 16 | 47 |
| 5 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 25 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 40 |
| 6 |  West BromWest Brom | 25 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 31 | 20 | 11 | 39 |
Key:
Position 1 – 2 : PromotionPosition 3 – 6 : Promotion Playoffs
Position 22 – 24 : Relegation
That grittiness and ability to go toe-to-toe with their rivals could be key, and we’ve already seen that Sunderland can blow the lesser teams in the league out of the water, too.
The key now for Le Bris’ young squad is to find some consistency, and as Mepham says, use this victory as a platform to build upon. Surely, Sunderland cannot fear anyone now, and they have to take that confidence forward into the rest of 2025.