Sunderland's defensive record compared to Premier League rivals after Nottingham Forest collapse
How do Sunderland stack up defensively after conceding nine goals in their past two games?
Sunderland have fallen into an entirely uncharacteristic defensive slump across their last two matches.
The Black Cats have enjoyed an excellent return to the top flight, building their unexpected European push on a rock-solid backline with just 36 goals conceded across their first 32 games. However, in a complete 180 turn, the Mackems have leaked a whopping nine goals in two games, first suffering a heartbreaking, last-minute defeat at Aston Villa, before being utterly thumped 5-0 at home by Nottingham Forest - going 4-0 down inside 37 minutes.
Regis Le Bris needs to pull his players together quickly ahead of their final four games, especially considering Sunderland are still just four points off sixth, which may yet yield Champions League football, and only two points off the top eight. But how has this recent slip affected Sunderland’s defensive record when compared to the rest of the Premier League?
Sunderland’s defensive record compared to Premier League rivals
- Arsenal - 26
- Man City - 29
- Crystal Palace - 36
- Brighton - 39
- Everton - 39
- Aston Villa - 41
- Liverpool - 43
- Brentford - 44
- Chelsea - 45
- Man Utd - 45
- Nott'm Forest - 45
- Sunderland - 45
- Fulham - 46
- Newcastle - 49
- Leeds - 51
- Bournemouth - 52
- Tottenham - 53
- West Ham - 57
- Wolves - 61
- Burnley - 68
It’s a testament to Sunderland’s defensive record across the first 32 games of this season that they can concede nine goals in two games and still only have eight teams that have allowed fewer. What’s more, they’re also level alongside both Manchester United and Chelsea on 45 conceded.
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Sunderland are still looking very strong in the clean sheets department, with their 10 shutouts only bettered by Everton (11), Crystal Palace (12), Manchester City (14) and Arsenal (15). Nine of them have been kept by Robin Roefs, while back-up goalkeeper Melker Ellborg managed a clean sheet on his Sunderland debut as they beat Leeds United 1-0 away at the start of March. The Black Cats will look to tighten up again in their next match as they take on bottom side Wolves, who are already relegated and have conceded the second-highest number of goals in the Premier League (61).