Sunderland have built a home fortress – so why do they collapse on the road? | OneFootball

As Sunderland’s impressive unbeaten home run came to an end in the Premier League, it’s been over 100 days since they last felt that winning feeling on the road.

A lofted through-ball sent Brian Brobbey racing clear, leaving Chelsea scrambling in stoppage time. After shrugging off his defender, he squared for Chemsdine Talbi, who calmly slotted into the bottom corner in front of 39,000 stunned fans to seal victory.

But since then, it would be tough to imagine this same side – who sit 11th and were the last unbeaten Premier League home team left – would struggle this much away from their ground.

Stadium of No Light

The Black Cats have managed just two wins in 13 away games this season, with four draws and seven defeats.

Both of their visiting victories were by just one goal and they fired fewer shots than their opponents in both matches. Only Wolves, Burnley and Leeds have picked up fewer points on their travels this season.

Sunderland have failed to find the net in 62% of their away games with eight blanks drawn to date, which is higher than any other team in the competition. They could do with prime Darren Bent.

Rock-bottom Wolves are second-highest with 58%. But they’ve also kept the joint-eighth most clean sheets on the road, which has helped to soften their lack of firepower and maintain a top-half position.

Interestingly, Sunderland have secured draws at difficult grounds such as Anfield, Selhurst Park, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Amex.

The low blocks in big matches seem to work away from home, to hold out defensively as a strong unit, but when they have to come onto teams such as Burnley or West Ham near the bottom of the table and attack, they have struggled and been punished with defeats.

Despite Sunderland’s ability to grind out low-scoring away draws in big fixtures, they have the highest xGA (expected goals conceded) in the Premier League away from home this season with a whopping 1.87 xGA.

This is 0.54 xGA higher than Newcastle, who have the second most. This shows there isn’t just a shyness in front of goal; there are also defensive frailties that offer up opportunities to their opponents.

Sunder-land of their own

In complete contrast to their away form, the Black Cats have been the fifth-best team in the Premier League at home this season. They only trail league leaders Arsenal by six points when hosting.

Sunderland were on an exclusive list with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Juventus as the only sides to remain unbeaten at home in their domestic leagues, but defeat against Liverpool on February 11 ended that run.

It’s seven wins, five draws and one loss for the newly-promoted side after hosting Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Newcastle already this season.

The Black Cats are averaging 1.62 goals per match at the Stadium of Light, which is the tenth most in the division for home teams. However, they are significantly overperforming their xG (expected goals) of 1.26 xG.

Even when comparing only home sides, only West Ham and Wolves have accumulated a lower xG than the Wearside club.

The attackers are feeding off scraps, but they have shown they can be clinical. Sunderland have failed to score at home in only two matches this season.

Although the striped team in red and white sit 13th for expected goals conceded at home, they have kept the joint-third most clean sheets when hosting with five, only behind Manchester City and Arsenal both with seven.

Their defence has been able to put bodies on the line to deny visitors high-goalscoring opportunities.

Sunderland are overperforming at home when analysing statistics both defensively and offensively, but something that can’t be measured by Opta is the home crowd’s involvement and intensity now the side are back in the Premier League.

Where fans make the difference

It may not be a coincidence that, among the newly promoted teams, their current league positions correlate with their stadium capacities.

The Stadium of Light seats 49,000 fans and is the ninth biggest in the league. Leeds are four places below Sunderland at 15th in the table and have a capacity of 38,000 at Elland Road.

Burnley then complete the list at 19th in the table with 22,000 at Turf Moor.

This could be down to how big the club is, how much money can be spent on facilities, new players, salaries and opportunities.

But having a larger stadium with more fans on the team’s side during matches can be a huge part of derailing an away side’s confidence and composure on their visit. It can motivate players to offer more on the pitch than what statistics are able to show.

Momentum matters too. The longer Sunderland remain unbeaten at home, the more belief the side will have when entering the pitch.

And vice-versa, as the days continue to mount since their last away win, that confidence will continue to erode and the results will be even harder to turn around psychologically.

It’s not controversial to say Regis Le Bris is doing a stellar job in charge of Sunderland and the summer introduction of Granit Xhaka has also invigorated the side.

Brobbey’s physicality and Talbi’s skills have produced quality when it has been needed and former Gunner Dan Ballard has been a rock at the centre-half.

Wing-back signing Nordi Mukiele has also been a major influence in both attack and defence for the much-changed Black Cats in 2025-26.

Sunderland’s home fortress has been built on defensive solidity, clinical finishing, and roaring fan support.

While their away woes stem from a lack of firepower, and defensive frailties exposed when forced to attack as the side who should dictate the game.