By the time you read this, the 2015 – 2016 Barclays Premier League will gearing towards its climax at full speed. With just two and a half months before the final whistle blows on the last two games of the season (Newcastle at home against Chelsea and Tottenham hosting Leicester City), this year’s league table looks to be all but settled by now, and that’s not always a good thing.
Sunderland are languishing in the relegation zone,seven points up from bottom-placed Aston Villa, and they are just one point away from trumping Norwich and the aforementioned Newcastle in securing their top flight position for next year.
Does this mean it’s time to count the club out already? Should we be gearing up for the inevitable drop and waving goodbye to a time when the Premier League was painted red and white?
Not exactly. After all, two and a half months may not be the longest time, but with at least ten games to go between March 1st and May 15th, it’s still all to play for. Besides, we’re talking here about a club that are hardly strangers to staging an impressive comeback.
Let’s not forget either, that this isn’t the first time The Black Cats have been counted out. This time last year, pundits were predicting that the club, then managed by Dick Advocaat, would be back in The Championship by now. And yet here they are with slew of impressive showings (if not necessarily impressive results) against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.
Worth the gamble?
For those prone to the occasional flutter, Sunderland’s valiant campaign this season must surely make them a tempting proposition for a few end-of-season bets.
Whilst bookmakers that offer the best English Premier League odds may only be giving Big Sam’s squad an average of 6/1 odds of victory on any single game, if the club’s history of bouncing back from the jaws of defeat is anything to go by, such numbers could well prove profitable for those willing to take a punt on a club with a reputation for being the ultimate underdogs.
Past successes
This is especially true when you consider the outcomes from the last time The Black Cats took on some of their upcoming opponents.
On March 1st for example, the Stadium of Light plays host to Crystal Palace, a team Sunderland beat 0-1 when they last met at Selhurst Park. Not long after that, Sam Allardyce leads his men into battle against Newcastle, hoping for a repeat of the 3 – 0 victory they secured back in October, whilst many fans are surely hoping that the club can secure a second display of their November win over Stoke (2-0) when both clubs face each other again this April.
The fight is on
Those results are only the start of things when it comes to the club’s ability to defy the odds. Did anybody really see that 2-1 win over fifth place Manchester United happening back in February? What about their ability to surprise critics by holding their own in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool earlier that month?
What we’re getting at here, is that despite things looking somewhat bleak at the start of March, it’s still far too early to count Sunderland out just yet. After all, if history is anything to go by, the odds -even at 6/1- at pretty good for the club’s 2015/2016 Premier League survival.
