Opta predicts who will be relegated out of Sunderland, Coventry, Hull City, Ipswich Town and Fulham after Premier League openers
Sunderland’s 2026-27 Premier League campaign got off to the worst possible start on Saturday as they were defeated 2-1 late on against Ipswich Town.
Despite qualifying for the Europa League last season, fans are less than optimistic, with the squad seriously lacking new additions.
Only two new players have come through the door to date, with the transfer window set to close on 1 September.
The defeat to newly-promoted Ipswich showcased first-hand that the Black Cats could now find themselves in a relegation battle this season, despite finishing sixth in the previous campaign.
Now, Opta believes that a drop into the Championship is likely after it updated its predictions following the weekend’s results.
In fact, the supercomputer currently has Sunderland to finish bottom of the Premier League, just over one year after they returned to the top-flight.
Sunderland predicted to finish bottom of the Premier League
Sunderland were tipped by many outsiders to be in a relegation battle this season due to the extra demands the club will have with the Europa League.
However, with many of the promoted clubs lacking recent experience in the top flight, the Black Cats have been expected to maintain their Premier League status.
This all changed on the weekend after both Hull City and Ipswich picked up three points, and showed the rest of the division that they were not going to be pushovers this season.
As a result, Opta on 23 August has now predicted Sunderland to finish bottom of the division in an unexpected turn of events, that will be grim reading for fans of the club.
The supercomputer believes that the Black Cats have a 32.87 per cent chance of relegation this season.
Both Coventry City and Hull City are expected to follow Sunderland into the second tier, with 30.81 per cent and 29.39 per cent chances of going down.
Ipswich Town, who were once tipped to go down, now just have a 24.60 per cent chance of relegation after their victory over Sunderland.
How concerning was Sunderland’s defeat to Ipswich?
While it is still too early to realistically judge either club, Sunderland’s showing at Portman Road was poor.
The Black Cats had more of the ball at 62 per cent, and managed 11 shots as well as four shots on target, but they simply did not create enough chances with just a 0.66 xG.
In comparison, Ipswich were great, despite not having much of the ball, and had a 1.80 xG from 10 shots, with three being on target.
With Sunderland facing Fulham on Sunday, a victory will no doubt be needed at the Stadium of Light, or Regis Le Bris could find himself under huge pressure early into the season.