Gary Neville shares what he thinks of Sunderland this season after watching highlights of their games

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Sunderland have made quite a return to the Premier League, hitting the ground running with some positive results.

It took eight years for the Black Cats to find their place back in the top flight, which included spells in League One and the Championship.

Now back in the Premier League, Regis Le Bris will have no intention of seeing the team get plunged back into the Championship.

It’s so far, so good on that front, with 11 points already picked up in the opening six matches of the campaign.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	6	5	0	1	12	7	5	15
2	ArsenalArsenal	6	4	1	1	12	3	9	13
3	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	6	3	3	0	8	3	5	12
4	TottenhamTottenham	6	3	2	1	11	4	7	11
5	SunderlandSunderland	6	3	2	1	7	4	3	11
6	BournemouthBournemouth	6	3	2	1	8	7	1	11
7	Manchester CityManchester City	6	3	1	2	14	6	8	10
8	ChelseaChelsea	6	2	2	2	11	8	3	8
9	BrightonBrighton	6	2	2	2	9	9	0	8
10	FulhamFulham	6	2	2	2	7	8	-1	8

While Sunderland are certainly off to a good start, there is plenty more football to come and more points needed to seal their place.

However, the team have certainly come in for plenty of praise from Gary Neville.

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Gary Neville praises ‘brilliant’ Sunderland during Premier League return

Six games into the season mark a good point to reflect on the early form of each team and just how well they have adjusted.

All three of the promoted teams have been competitive, much more so than in previous seasons, which may be a positive sign for the overall league.

Sunderland are perhaps the surprise package of the bunch, after getting promoted through the play-offs, but with an aggressive transfer approach that has seemingly worked so far.

Neville was full of praise for their style when speaking on the Gary Neville podcast, as he said: “I’ve not watched them live yet, but I think first Monday night football of the season, they played that first home game, didn’t they, against West Ham? I think it was.

“Sometimes, when you like what you see, you see teams that obviously have got, they’re going to be defending for large parts of the game, but then you see them sprint forward, and then they put balls into the box, and they play with intent and positivity.

“They’ve got physicality about them. I really like what I’ve seen, and I’ve only seen highlights so far and parts of games, but it’s brilliant what they’ve done.

“We need to see teams from the Championship that come up do well.”

It’s certainly a positive start for Sunderland, one they will want to build on now.

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Sunderland fixtures start to ramp up in difficulty soon

Sunderland will be glad to have such a good start already, putting vital points on the board to push them up the Premier League table.

On paper, it appeared as though the Black Cats had one of the easier starts to the campaign, but they may well have surpassed expectations with their start.

It’s an important run that could build confidence in the team, showing they are capable of competing at the top level.

That will be important to keep in mind over the next few weeks, as the fixtures start to turn against them slightly.

Games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are all around the corner, while Newcastle in the derby also await them in December.

If the side can stay competitive in those games, while picking up points elsewhere, it’ll give them the foundations for a successful campaign.

If the results turn against them, though, then things could start to get tricky.