Where are Sunderland predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League?

Sunderland have enjoyed a positive return to the Premier League and many would say Regis Le Bris and his players have surpassed expectations during the first two months of the season.

The Stadium of Light played host to a spectacular first game back in the top flight as Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor all found the net in a 3-0 win against West Ham United before the Black Cats suffered what has been a rare negative result with a defeat at Burnley seven days later.

However, Le Bris’ men bounced back in some style as they embarked on a four-game unbeaten run that led them into the European places. That all started when Isidor doubled his tally for the season with a decisive late strike in a 2-1 home win against Brentford before the Black Cats battled to was impressive goalless draw at Crystal Palace. Sunderland showed their resilient side once again when they earned a 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa despite playing with ten men for over an hour and then returned to winning ways when summer signing Omar Alderete got the only goal at Nottingham Forest.

The Black Cats ventured into the second international break of the season with a 2-0 defeat a Manchester United - but there were a lot of positives to take from the loss at Old Trafford. Sunderland will return to Premier League action with a home game against struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers next Saturday afternoon and they will hope they can claim another win that could lift them as high as the top four.

With such positivity enveloping Wearside, there seems no limit to what Sunderland could achieve this season - but where could they finish in the table? We take a look at the latest predicted final Premier League table provided by the stats experts at Opta.

Where are Sunderland predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League?

1st: Arsenal - 77.12 points 2nd: Liverpool - 74.93 points 3rd: Manchester City - 69.73 points 4th: Chelsea - 61.30 points 5th: Crystal Palace - 61.00 points 6th: Newcastle United - 58.76 points 7th: Bournemouth - 57.45 points 8th: Tottenham Hotspur - 57.10 points 9th: Aston Villa - 56.02 points 10th: Brighton and Hove Albion - 55.02 points 11th: Everton - 51.15 points 12th: Manchester United - 49.61 points 13th: Brentford - 46.53 points 14th: Fulham - 46.30 points 15th: Nottingham Forest - 40.30 points 16th: Sunderland - 39.54 points 17th: Leeds United - 39.46 points 18th: West Ham United - 37.44 points 19th: Wolverhampton Wanderers - 33.87 points 20th: Burnley - 33.16 points