Sunderland and Southampton have defied expectations in 2016.
| Appearances | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 42 |
| Southampton | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 39 |
| Tottenham | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 35 |
| Man Utd | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 33 |
| West Ham | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 33 |
| Arsenal | 19 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 32 |
| Chelsea | 19 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 30 |
| Liverpool | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 30 |
| Man City | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 30 |
| Swansea | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 28 |
| Sunderland | 19 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 27 |
| Bournemouth | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 22 |
| Stoke | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 22 |
| Everton | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 21 |
| Newcastle | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 20 |
| West Brom | 19 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 20 |
| Watford | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 16 |
| Norwich | 19 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 14 |
| C. Palace | 19 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 |
| Aston Villa | 19 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 9 |
As shown by the table provided by Opta, both Sunderland and Southampton supporters have reason to be extremely proud of their team’s efforts following a superb turnaround since the New Year.
The Black Cats for long periods this season looked doomed for relegation, yet boss Sam Allardyce wielded his magic during the January transfer window and the team since improved tenfold.
The signings of Wahbi Khazri, Lamine Kone and Jan Kirchhoff have all paid off superbly and the Wearside club secured their Premier League status before the final day trip to Watford.
As shown in the table, Sunderland have collected an impressive 27 points from the second-half of the season – a run which would have them in 11th place and comfortably ahead of the bottom three.
Home victories over Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton are arguably the pick of the bunch, but what about the comeback at Liverpool or that must-win encounter at Norwich City a few weeks ago?
It has been a whirlwind ride for supporters of the Black Cats, and now they can look forward to a positive summer and the prospect of a much brighter future under Allardyce.
While Allardyce has pulled off another unlikely survival, Ronald Koeman at the opposite end of the table has also worked wonders on the south coast as Southampton secured Europa League qualification.
The Saints have been utterly superb since the start of the New Year, and seven wins in their last nine games of the season has seen the climb momentarily into fifth spot (Manchester United have one game left).
As shown by the table above, Koeman’s side have taken a whopping 39 points from their last 19 games – only three behind title winners Leicester City and four more than next best Tottenham Hotspur.
Southampton have got a strong squad of players at their disposal, and with a few big signings this summer, there will be no reason why they can’t finish in the top four next season.
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