The veteran Jermaine Defoe boosted Sunderland in the second half of 2014-2015 and looks to power Sunderland’s offense in 2015-2016. (Getty)
Sunderland finished 16th in the English Premier League in 2014-2015 and, although they only had one win over top-seven team, they were competitive all season. Sunderland drew against Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United during the season, even though they had the second-worst offense in the Premier League. Sadly, Sunderland’s 2014-2015 season will be known in large part for the 8-0 thrashing by Southampton on October 18, 2014. Sunderland added Jeremain Lens, Ricardo Alvarez permanently from Inter Milan, and Younes Kaboul from Tottenham, while losing top scorer Connor Wickham to Crystal Palace.
Sunderland opens the season with two other teams that fought off relegation in 2014-2015, Leicester City and Aston Villa, and also have a fixture with Norwich City within their first four matches. Their toughest stretch of the season runs from December 5 to December 26, where they travel to Arsenal before hosting Watford and traveling to Chelsea and Manchester City back-to-back.
Read below for the EPL schedule for Sunderland (subject to change with English Cup fixtures):
August 8, 2015: at Leicester City
August 15, 2015: Norwich City
August 22, 2015: Swansea City
August 29, 2015: at Aston Villa
September 13, 2015: Tottenham
September 19, 2015: at Bournemouth
September 26, 2015: at Manchester United
October 3, 2015: West Ham United
October 17, 2015: at West Bromwich Albion
October 24, 2015: Newcastle United
October 31, 2015: at Everton
November 7, 2015: Southampton
November 21, 2015: at Crystal Palace
November 28, 2015: Stoke
December 5, 2015: at Arsenal
December 12, 2015: Watford
December 19, 2015: at Chelsea
December 26, 2015: at Manchester City
December 28, 2015: Liverpool
January 2, 2016: Aston Villa
January 13, 2016: at Swansea City
January 16, 2016: at Tottenham
January 23, 2016: Bournemouth
February 2, 2016: Manchester City
February 6, 2016 : at Liverpool
February 13, 2016: Manchester United
February 27, 2016: at West Ham United
March 1, 2016: Crystal Palace
March 5, 2016: at Southampton
March 12, 2016: Everton
March 19, 2016 : at Newcastle United
April 2, 2016: West Bromwich Albion
April 9, 2016 : Leicester City
April 16, 2016: at Norwich City
April 23, 2016: Arsenal
April 30, 2016: at Stoke
May 7, 2016 : Chelsea
May 15, 2016: at Watford
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