One amazing stat suggests Regis Le Bris can lead Sunderland to the Premier League, he’s had huge impact already

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Sunderland have come on leaps and bounds since Regis Le Bris took over, but things could get even better by the end of the season.

After the disappointment of last season’s 16th-placed finish in the Championship, big improvements were needed at Sunderland.

So far, Regis Le Bris has delivered on that front, with the Black Cats playing nice football, young players coming through the ranks, and most importantly, results going the right way.

Indeed, with such swift success, Sunderland will have to be wary of Premier League clubs coming in for Le Bris, but they could end up in the top flight themselves at this rate.

• READ MORE: Sunderland just missed the perfect opportunity to add Black Cats legend to Regis Le Bris’ coaching team

Sunderland on course for massive points haul this season

After 21 games this season, Sunderland have 40 points on the board, which has them in fourth place in the Championship table right now.

To put that into perspective, Sunderland only amassed 56 points last season in total, meaning Le Bris has 25 games to gain 17 points if he simply wants to improve on the 2023/24 campaign. Obviously, aspirations will be far higher than that, though, given the impressive start to this season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	21	14	5	2	30	11	19	45
2	LeedsLeeds	21	12	6	3	37	15	22	42
3	BurnleyBurnley	21	11	8	2	26	8	18	41
4	SunderlandSunderland	21	11	7	3	32	17	15	40
5	BlackburnBlackburn	20	11	4	5	25	17	8	37
6	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	21	10	4	7	35	25	10	34

By doing some simple calculations, we know that Sunderland have been picking up 1.9 points per game on average this season. Extrapolating that statistic, we can forecast the Black Cats getting another 47.5 points across the next 25 games if they continue on their current trajectory.

Let’s call it 47 for argument’s sake, which means by the end of the season, Sunderland could rack up 87 points. That’s more than 30 better than last season’s haul, and would put them firmly in contention for a promotion place come May 2025.

• READ MORE: Premier League clubs told to ‘beg’ Sunderland to loan top talents after Amad Diallo’s Man Utd heroics

It might just be enough to get Sunderland into the Premier League

Everything appears to be going Sunderland’s way right now. Not only are the Black Cats unbeaten at home all season, but they are also grinding out results under difficult circumstances.

In the last week alone, Sunderland have become one of the most proficient teams in the Championship when it comes to gaining points from a deficit. Naturally, then, there is no reason to suggest Le Bris’ side will slow down anytime soon.

But, would 87 points be enough to get Sunderland promoted to the Premier League? Looking at the last three seasons, it would certainly be enough to grab a play-off spot, but might just leave them short of the automatic promotion places.

Last season, Leicester City and Ipswich Town ran away with things, but fourth-placed Southampton went up via the play-offs with 87 points. In 2022/23, Luton finished third with 80 points but managed to win the play-offs, too.

Looking back to 2021/22, Bournemouth secured an automatic promotion spot with 88 points, which suggests it’s not impossible to imagine an 87-point campaign being enough for Sunderland. Further back, West Brom even managed to finish second with just 83 points.

However, this season, Leeds United and Sheffield United look to be a cut above the rest, and we could well see the two teams pushing the 100-point mark this term.

Still, even just achieving a play-off spot this year would be a huge feat for Sunderland, and if they can land in that top six, there is no telling what can happen on the way to Wembley.