Sunderland stats: How many points needed to get into the Championship play-offs?

How close are Sunderland to launching a serious play-offs push in the Championship?

Ah 'play-offs.' Two words that used to chill the very souls of Sunderland fans everywhere but no longer hold any fear. 

Perhaps that is because of the League One play-off final win at Wembley this year banishing the demons?

Or, maybe it is that the play-offs look very different from an underdogs points of view than they do from that of the favourites? It's probably a bit of both. 

Whatever it is, the point is that we are looking towards the play-offs with aspiration this season rather than with anxiety. We see possibility where we once saw nothing but an inevitable pain.

What, though, will it take from here to get Sunderland into the Championship play-offs?

How many points will be needed for the Championship play-offs?

Season	Points needed for play-offs
2007/08	70
2008/09	74
2009/10	70
2010/11	75
2011/12	75
2012/13	68
2013/14	72
2014/15	78
2015/16	74
2016/17	80
2017/18	75
2018/19	74
2019/20	70
2020/21	77
2021/22	75

It's impossible to say for certain, of course, and the year Sunderland are going for it will probably somehow manage to be the toughest year to get it. 

We saw that last year in League one when you needed form that would likely get you automatic promotion any other year just to sneak into the play-offs. 

What we can see, though, is that over the the last 15 years teams have needed an average of 74 points (73.8 to be exact) to finish sixth in the Championship. 

That is probably a good loose target to keep in mind, although also remember 74 points has only got you into the Championship play-offs in 8 of the last 15 seasons too. 

Therefore, 75 points, which has been enough in 12 of the last 15 seasons, is the safer bet.

What should be noted, though, is that at the moment it's shaping up to be a much lower points total needed. Only the top three in the table right now, Burnley, Sheffield United and Blackburn, are on course to hit 75 points. Norwich, currently in fifth, are on pace for 71 points, so that could very well be enough this year.

What would it take for Sunderland to get there?

Well it would obviously take an improvement from what has been produced in the first 21 games. 

That's not to say that 30 points from 21 games is anything to be sniffed at. After the 6-0 League One thrashing at Bolton in January, if anyone said that less than a year later Sunderland would be top ten in the Championship and even thinking about the play-offs, you'd have barely believed them. 

Sunderland's 30 points so far have been won at a very respectable rate of 1.42 per game. To get into the play-offs from here, Sunderland would need to up that to 1.8 points per game in the final 25 games of the campaign. 

The margins are not all that great, though. For example, had Sunderland just turned a couple of draws into wins and a couple of losses into draws so far, they'd be sitting third in the table and looking up at the automatic promotion spots. 

That is an overly-simplistic way of looking at it, of course, and it's a lot easier to say than to do, but it illustrates the point. 

If the required total turns out to be 71 rather than 75, then Sunderland would only need to up their points per game in the remaining 25 games to 1.64 (from 1.42). That brings a potential play-off push very much into the Black Cats' grasp. 

So, a very slight improvement may be all that is required. Even that won't be easy in such a competitive Championship this season, and Sunderland will be far from the only team fancying themselves to be the customary one to 'sneak' into the play-offs. 

Still, it shows that there is a hell of a lot to play for heading into the second half of the Championship campaign. 

ALSO READ: Sunderland youngsters who could REALLY do with a loan move in January