Season Preview – Sunderland

Last season: Championship first, 88 points; FA Cup third round; Carling Cup first round

Transfers:

In: Michael Chopra (Cardiff, £5m); Kieran Richardson (Manchester United, £6m); Dickson Etuhu (Norwich, £1.5m); Greg Halford (Reading, £2.5m); Russell Anderson (Aberdeen, £1m); Paul McShane (West Brom, £2.5m)

Out: Stephen Elliott (Wolves, undisclosed); Tommy Miller (Ispwich, free); Kenny Cunningham, William Mocquet (released); Jonny Evans, Danny Simpson (both Man Utd, end of loan)

Official Website: http://www.safc.com/

Official Kit:

One of the greatest and most influential players of Manchester United – Roy Keane – took over the reins of managing Sunderland a few games into the Championship season last year and turned what was a pathetic start into table topping form and ensured that the Wearside club bounced back into the Premier League.

They should acquit themselves better this time around in the Premiership than they did in their last season there (2005-06) when they managed to record just 15 points and were pretty much the joke of the league.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

"Sunderland's schedule is set up in a pretty decent way and seems to provide the club with every change to remain in the Premiership – though I feel they might still manage to make the drop.

December is by far the toughest month, with away games at Chelsea and Reading and home games against Aston Villa, Bolton, and Manchester United. April (Relegation battle time) sees them play against 4 mid-table opponents and they should be able to secure 8-10 points in them and hitting the 40 points safety barrier just might be possible.

The last two matches of the year could be make-or-break for Sunderland, with a trip to Bolton followed by a home match with Arsenal on the last day of the season."

EPL08.com prediction:

League Position - 18

It's going to be real close relegation dog-fight and the fiery Roy Keane might not be able to retain his cool at the end of it. Keane did wonders in his first year at Sunderland, but even he'll known that it's going to be a pretty different season in one of the best top division leagues in the world. We'll keep a special watch on the Desi flavour ala Michael Chopra.