How difficult are Sunderland’s opening five fixtures compared to Newcastle, Liverpool and Premier League rivals | OneFootball

New Opta metrics rank every club’s first five league games, with Sunderland placed 19th by the average strength of their opponents.

According to Sunderland Echo, Opta’s Power Rankings assess 10,000 teams worldwide, awarding 100 to the strongest and zero to the weakest, then averaging each club’s first five opponents. Arsenal are currently rated 100.0, while Hull City are 82.2, deemed the easiest Premier League opponent in this model.

Sunderland begin at Ipswich Town, then host Fulham, travel to Brentford, welcome Arsenal, then visit Manchester City. This sequence underpins their 93.2 opponents’ average.

Newcastle sit second on this list at 89.9, Liverpool third at 90.7. Manchester United are first with 89.3, while Bournemouth are 20th at 93.3.

The Black Cats return to the top flight last season delivered seventh place and a maiden Europa League berth. Regis Le Bris’ side opened pre-season with a big win at York City, and now head to the United States to face Liverpool, Leeds United and Wrexham.

Source: Sunderland Echo