10 Things Sunderland Must Do To Avoid Relegation

2. Stop Leaking Early Goals

The biggest killer for Sunderland this season has been blowing a hole through their foot before they've even had a chance to get going. The Premier League is utterly merciless, and going 1-0 down inside the opening 10 minutes is like being lowered a foot into the grave. Sunderland have conceded far too many sloppy goals, and once they're down, they rarely get back up. I'd happily go into every half-time this season at 0-0. That may seem obvious, but we need to set up like a rock for 45 minutes. The longer the game runs on, the closer we get to 'Defoe territory' and providing he can take his chances, points should begin to stack up. Of course, things turn out to be a lot more complicated than that, but the theory is there. The longer we go without conceding, the greater the chance of nicking wins.