A year ago, Sunderland were the story everyone wanted to tell. Playing in League One as recently as 2022, they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, did the double over Newcastle and finished seventh. Now they sit rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with one win and six defeats from nine games, and the manager who built that European place is being asked whether he can fix this.
A very different nine games
The comparison is brutal. When Sunderland won at Chelsea last season they were second in the table after nine games back in the top flight. This time they have five points, seven league goals, and a single victory, a 1-0 at home to Fulham on 30 August. Three of those seven goals came in one game, a 3-5 defeat at Manchester City. Two more have come from the penalty spot. They have failed to score a first-half goal in seven of their nine league matches.
Discipline has not helped either. Sunderland finished with ten men in defeats by Arsenal, Bournemouth and Coventry, with Reinildo Mandava, Kevin Danso and Omar Alderete all sent off. Last Saturday's 3-1 loss at newly promoted Coventry was the one that stung, and it prompted captain Granit Xhaka to say he did not know what the problem was and that the team had not shown courage. Weeks earlier, Nordi Mukiele had called the side arrogant.
Is Europe the culprit?
The easy explanation is the Europa League. Sunderland are playing European football for the first time since 1973, with at least eight games in the competition and a trip to AC Milan in December. French football writer Julien Laurens points to the Thursday-Sunday rhythm as a very different way of working from last season, with less time on the training pitch. The numbers lean that way, too: Sunderland have lost two and drawn one of the three league games that followed a European night.
Yet the European results themselves have been good. They have won two and drawn one of their first three league phase matches. Dinamo Zagreb visit the Stadium of Light on Thursday, and Chelsea come on Sunday. Europe might be tiring them, but it is also the one place where they are not losing.
Money, expectations and one patient club
There is a cooler reading, too. Last season Sunderland had one of the lowest expected goals differences in the league, ahead of only relegated Burnley and Wolves, which suggests the seventh-place finish flattered them. After winning promotion in 2025 they spent £161m on 15 players. This summer it was £60m on five. Keeping Xhaka and Brian Brobbey, who signed a new deal until 2031 but has yet to score since returning from a hamstring injury, was popular, but it did not add much new quality.
BBC Sport understands Regis Le Bris is not in immediate danger and will be given more time. He is the club's longest-serving manager since Steve Bruce and has plenty of goodwill. Still, former loan player Nedum Onuoha doubts the supporters will see him as a long-term answer, and Laurens warned that the manager is usually the first to pay. Sunderland are two points from safety. If Thursday and Sunday go badly, the international break will feel very long indeed.
Club context: Sunderland are 20th, two points from safety, with one win (1-0 v Fulham, 30 August) and six defeats from nine league games. Next: Dinamo Zagreb (home, Europa League, Thursday 20:00 GMT) and Chelsea (home, Sunday). Le Bris has been in charge since July 2024. Source reporting: BBC Sport.
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