How does Sunderland's strong start compare to other promoted sides? | OneFootball

Sunderland picked up another point to see them into the top four of the Premier League after 10 games played so far this season.

The Black Cats may not have expected to be in the Champions League places so soon after promotion from the Championship but a newly-promoted team hitting the ground running like Régis Le Bris' side is a refreshing change.

Indeed, Sunderland's 18 points (five wins, three draws, two defeats) is the most for a promoted side in the 2020s, ahead of the Fulham team of 2022/23 and the Leeds United side of 2020/21 who both had 14 points after 10 games played.

In fact, you'd have to go back to the 2008/09 Premier League season for when a team had more points than Sunderland at this stage. That time it was Phil Brown's side who had a superb start to the season, picking up an impressive 20 points before a disastrous final few months that saw them avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth.

Before that, Wigan Athletic were the surprise package when Paul Jewell's team settled into Premier League life with ease, earning 19 points in their first 10 games.

Surprisingly, Sunderland have had better starts to newly-promoted seasons in the Premier League before. In the 1999/00 campaign, Peter Reid's team kicked off the campaign with 20 points.

While 20 points for a team moving up in the pyramid is impressive, it's not the best in Premier League history.

Nottingham Forest excelled early on in the 1994/95 season, sitting second (as the Black Cats could have done had they beaten Everton on Monday night) with a grand total of 24 points – at that stage ahead of eventual title winners Blackburn Rovers.

By the end of the 1994/5 season, Forest didn't drop off, finishing the season third in the league which saw them reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup the following season – losing only to Bayern Munich.

Sunderland would surely be happy with that outcome should their bright start continue.