Sunderland projected 12th after Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest defeats | OneFootball

Opta’s updated model now projects Sunderland to finish 12th on 50.64 points after a punishing week in the Premier League.

The Black Cats lost late at Aston Villa last Sunday, then were beaten 5-0 by Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light on Friday night. A Trai Hume own goal opened the scoring, before strikes from Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus and Elliot Anderson completed the rout.

Sunderland were widely tipped to battle relegation following last May’s Championship play-off final win over Sheffield United. Despite the recent setbacks, Regis Le Bris’s side have exceeded expectations and remain on the fringes of the European race.

They sit in the bottom half but are close to the top seven with four matches left.

The projection has Arsenal first on 81.52 points, Manchester City second on 79.35 and Manchester United third on 65.75. It places Aston Villa fourth on 64.27, with Nottingham Forest 16th on 44.02 and Tottenham Hotspur 18th on 38.69. Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers are forecast to finish 19th and 20th respectively.

Source: Sunderland Echo