Sunderland have made a good start to the season, but one underlying issue could end up costing them long-term if it’s not fixed soon.
After one-third of the campaign, Sunderland were top of the Championship table and flying. However, the Black Cats have failed to win in their last six matches, and have now slipped to fourth place.
Still, Regis Le Bris and his squad have shown lots of promise already this term, and the Sunderland boss has insisted he is not concerned by their recent ‘struggle’ to win.
But, when digging a little deeper into the story of Sunderland’s season, there is one very worrying statistic that could spell trouble down the line.
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Sunderland have failed to overturn a deficit all season
According to data from Transfermarkt, Sunderland are one of six teams in the Championship that have failed to win a game after falling behind this season.
Of those teams — Millwall, Preston North End, Derby County, Swansea City, and Stoke City are the others — Sunderland have the least deficits, which makes the pattern slightly less concerning.
| Team | Deficits | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Millwall | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Swansea City | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Stoke City | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Derby County | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| Preston North End | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
But, Sunderland have now been behind four times this term, and have only managed to salvage one point from those situations. They have lost three games when in losing positions, and drawn just one.
Swansea City have also managed just one point from such positions, and have been behind on eight occasions so far.
Regis Le Bris must make his young squad more resilient
Perhaps this is a symptom of Le Bris inheriting such a young squad. The players simply do not possess the experience required to overcome certain challenges, and they’ve not got the mentality you need to battle back from a losing position.
In fact, there are a number of other worrying underlying issues in the Sunderland squad, like the fact the Black Cats are one of the worst in the league when it comes to generating xG.
The likes of Jobe Bellingham, Chris Rigg, and Tommy Watson are all highly-talented but young players, and while they have an incredible amount of potential, in the here and now, when things get tough, they need to show more resilience and desire to turn things around.
It’s something that will come in time naturally, but if Le Bris is serious about keeping Sunderland in the promotion race this season, he will need to drill into his players what it means to grind out results and overcome these obstacles.