Premier League-Sunderland VS Everton: How long can the black cats and dark horses continue?

This season’s Premier League is a turmoil among the heroes. In the BIG6, Arsenal is the favorite to win the championship. Manchester City and Liverpool are not without opportunities. Manchester United has not dropped the chain either. It has 17 points with Chelsea and Tottenham, one point behind Liverpool and two points behind Manchester City.

"Cherry" Bournemouth and "Black Cat" newly promoted Sunderland are dark horses.

In this round, Bournemouth lost to Manchester City 1:3 in an away game and are still ranked fourth in the Premier League standings, with points equal to Liverpool. Sunderland also has 17 points in one round less. If they can defeat Everton at home in this round, they will accumulate 20 points and beat Manchester City by 1 point to move into second place.

Sunderland VS Everton

Nature of the match: 10th round of the Premier League

Match time: 4:00 on November 4

As a newly promoted team, Sunderland's performance this season has far exceeded expectations and can be called a dark horse. The team has been in excellent form recently and has achieved two consecutive victories in the league. Among them, the 2-1 away victory over Chelsea in the last round greatly boosted morale. Solid defense is the foundation of their foothold. They have only conceded 7 goals in 9 league rounds, making them the second-fewest team in the Premier League. At home, Sunderland performed strongly this season, with 3 wins and 1 draw in 4 league home games, remaining unbeaten.

However, the team is facing certain injuries, especially the core defense Omar Aldrete and midfielder Dan Neal are doubtful due to concussion problems, which has brought uncertainty to their formation.

Everton's recent form has continued to be sluggish, with only 1 win, 2 draws and 4 losses in the past 7 games. The offensive end is a big problem for them. They have only scored 4 goals in the past 6 games, averaging only 0.67 goals per game, and they have been kept clean by their opponents in the last two league rounds. On the road, their performance is even more difficult. They have recently suffered three consecutive away defeats and conceded an average of 2 goals per game.

The team's injuries are relatively concentrated, with defenders Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson confirmed to be out due to injuries. Everton's advantage lies in historical confrontations. They have won the last three times they faced Sunderland and have zero shutouts. This may bring some psychological advantages.

The core focus of this game is: Can Sunderland's strong home court and solid defense withstand Everton's psychological advantage in historical confrontations?

From a tactical perspective, Sunderland will seek to take the initiative by relying on their home advantage. Their high pressure and defensive resilience are the key. Everton needs to rely on Grealish's personal creativity to tear apart the opponent's defense. He is the team's main offensive launch point this season and has sent 4 assists in the league.

Sunderland's excellent form and home strength make them more optimistic, but Everton has a psychological advantage in the historical confrontation. Taking into account Sunderland's solid defense and Everton's weak offensive end, I am more optimistic about Sunderland remaining undefeated at home.