Premier League: The Black Cats Are Back…But They Need Some Luck!

Sunderland vs West Ham United

It’s arguably the biggest and best league on the planet and pretty much every team in the top half of the Championship will move heaven and earth to reach the holy grail of the Premier League. 

And this year, against some pretty long odds, Sunderland made it back to the big time.  

Régis Le Bris’ Black Cats are newly promoted after finishing fourth in the EFL last season and going on the beat Sheffield United in the play-off final. They have spent heavily, and whether that strategy will pay off remains to be seen as, after the three promoted teams have dropped straight back to the second tier for two seasons in succession, it seems the gap between the second and top tiers is bigger than ever.    

We’ll get a first glimpse of the new boys when Premier League: Sunderland vs West Ham kicks off at the Stadium of Light. 

Hammers boss Graham Potter is a man under pressure after he took over the East Londoners in 14^th place midway through last season and that’s exactly where they finished after a relatively strong finish. Recently successful in European competition, the West Ham fans expect more but I suspect things are unlikely to improve any time soon at the London Stadium. 

 

Talking Points

Can Sunderland’s spending spree save them?

The SBOTOP odds say the Black Cats will need to exceed all expectations to survive this upcoming campaign, after doing just that to reach the Premier League in the first place. As well as the other promoted teams, Leeds United and Burnley, the likes of Keith Andrews’ Brentford will be in the sights of any likely strugglers and, of course, the Bees and others will have a keen eye on the Sunderland vs West Ham updates as they roll in. 

Sunderland have spent over £120m in an attempt to upgrade their team, but that is a risky strategy, as Burnley discovered under Vincent Kompany two years ago. To push aside the players who fought to reach the top flight and make room for young stars with undoubted potential but no Premier League experience ended catastrophically for the Clarets, who won just five games in 2023/24, the lowest win tally in their 140 year history. 

The Black Cats have bought some experience, with the signing of midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen for £17m, and creative midfielder Simon Adingra from Brighton and Hove Albion for £21m. Xhaka won the Bundesliga title with Leverkusen and was a key player at Arsenal before he moved to Germany, though not always a fans favourite. His experience will be crucial though as Sunderland have spent heavily on some very inexperienced young hopefuls. £30m has been invested in 21 year old Habib Diarra from Strasbourg, £17.5m on 20 year old Noah Sadiki from Union Saint Gilloise and £19m on 20 year old Chemsdine Talbi from Club Brugges. All promising players, they are likely to find the Premier League a totally different ball game from the French or Belgian leagues.   

There is more experience though in the shape of 31 year old defender Arthur Masuaku who has returned to England after his contract at Turkish club Besiktas expired. He joins on a free transfer and the Congolese international could be a calming influence when the going inevitably gets tough, something you could not really say of Xhaka!   

 

Hammers’ transfer woes 

While the Black Cats have been on a spending spree, the Hammers, shopping in a slightly different market, have had limited success. Potter needs to upgrade a squad which won just five games in 19 under him last term and the departure of Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham Hotpsur wasn’t the ideal way to start the summer transfer window. 

The Hammers have so far brought in 33 year old Callum Wilson, who was released by Newcastle United after an injury ravaged couple of campaigns; and they too are gambling on youth, bringing in 20 year old left back El Hadji Diouf from Slavia Prague for £19m, while 25 year old centre back Jean Clair Todibo has joined from Nice at a cost of a chunky £35m.

Potter has been trying to bring quality into midfield but have been frustrated over the past few days with one target, Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey, seemingly on the way to Newcastle United; and the Hammers have had a £30m bid rejected for Southampton’s Portuguese star Mateus Fernandes.     

It seems West Ham and Potter will be heavily reliant on skipper Jarrod Bowen for creativity again and that is not a position the Hammers boss wants to be in when the transfer window closes.    

 

History 

West Ham have had the better of the previous head to heads with 16 wins to Sunderland’s nine, while the Black Cats have won six to five at the Stadium of Light, and there have been seven draws on Teeside.  

In terms of recent form the Hammers have won four of the last six- spanning their pre-season and the last three games of last season, when they finished off with a 3-1 win away to Ipswich Town as Bowen made an assist and scored a goal while Kudus was also on target 

Bizarrely, the Black Cats lost their last three league games in the Championship but they squeezed through the play-offs against all the odds.  

 

Betting Tip

The Sunderland vs West Ham betting odds favour the Hammers in this opener at a price of 2.15, with Sunderland at 3.24. It’s too early to say this is a six-pointer but neither side will want to lose this opener and I’m gunning for a draw.

   

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