Sunderland's new predicted final Championship finish after agonising Leeds United defeat

There was heartbreak for Sunderland as they fell to an agonising late defeat against Championship promotion rivals Leeds United.

The Black Cats moved on from a slow start at Elland Road as the endeavour and determination of Wilson Isidor allowed the French forward to send a low shot across Whites goalkeeper Illan Meslier and into his net via the far post. The lead remained in place until half-time - but Regis Le Bris’ side came under increasing pressure during the second-half as their hosts dominated possession.

Although goalscoring opportunities felt few and far-between, there was a feeling Leeds would find a breakthrough at some point and it came with just over ten minutes remaining when Whites substitute Pascal Struijk flicked home a header from a Joe Rothwell free-kick. With the seconds ticking away in injury-time Struijk doubled his tally and put his side in front with seconds to go with another header from close range to set of wild celebrations from the Elland Road faithful.

The defeat brought an open and honest verdict from Black Cats head coach Le Bris, who assessed the mood of his players as they continue to push for promotion. He said: "For me, we played a good first half and we played a strong team - we have to admit that we can be overwhelmed at times by their strength. They were very good. We have a young team and they are learning from all these different experiences, I am sure that in the future this will be a positive for them. They are disappointed, of course. They want to win and to be promoted, to be in a good dynamic."

The defeat at Elland Road leaves Sunderland eight points adrift of the automatic promotion places as their focus now turns towards a home clash with struggling Hull City on Saturday lunchtime. That will form part of another crucial weekend at the top end of the Championship that will get underway on Friday night when third placed Burnley face play-off contenders Sheffield Wednesday at Turf Moor. However, the game of the weekend will come on Monday night when new leaders Leeds travel to second placed Sheffield United.

With another big weekend lying in wait, we look at where Sunderland are predicted to finish in this season’s Championship with the help of a table provided by the stats experts at OPTA.

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

24th: Luton Town (43 points) 23rd: Plymouth Argyle (43 points) 22nd: Derby County (44 points) 21st: Cardiff City (47 points) 20th: Hull City (48 points) 19th: Oxford United (52 points) 18th: Swansea City (52 points) 17th: Stoke City (52 points) 16th: Portsmouth (53 points) 15th: Millwall (58 points) 14th: QPR (60 points) 13th: Preston North End (61 points) 12th: Norwich City (63 points) 11th: Sheffield Wednesday (63 points) 10th: Watford (63 points) 9th: Bristol City (63 points) 8th: Middlesbrough (64 points) 7th: Coventry City (67 points) 6th: West Bromwich Albion (67 points) 5th: Blackburn Rovers (70 points) 4th: Sunderland (84 points) 3rd: Burnley (90 points) 2nd: Sheffield United (93 points) 1st: Leeds United (98 points)

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