“I fear” - Micah Richards issues Sunderland AFC concern amid Leeds United, Burnley comparison | OneFootball

Match of the Day pundit Micah Richards has spoken of his 'fears' for newly-promoted clubs in the Premier League next season, in particular Sunderland.

Ex-Premier League defender turned pundit Michah Richards has expressed his concern over Sunderland's chances in next season's Premier League, with the Black Cats completing the promoted trio with Leeds United and Burnley.

The top two places in this season's Championship were taken by clubs freshly relegated at the end of the 2023/24 season. Leeds and Burnley ended the season tied on 100 points each, with Leeds taking the title on goal difference.

But the third of those relegated clubs, Sheffield United, couldn't bounce straight back. They were dramatically beaten by a stoppage-time winner by Sunderland in the play-off final, continuing their dismal run of having played in five play-off finals without having won one, and will spend at least one more season in the Championship.

Micah Richards fears for Sunderland most out of the three promoted clubs to the Premier League

Speaking on Match of the Day on the final weekend of the Premier League season, Micah Richards offered his opinions on the prospects for the three clubs coming up to the top tier for next season.

"It’s hard," ex-England international Richards said, on the evidence that Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton produced in the 2024-25 season after coming up from the Championship.

"But I watched Burnley a lot this season. They’re solid; really good defensively. Leeds will have money to spend."

But when he moved onto the subject of Sunderland, his assessment was somewhat more withering, stating: "I fear for Sunderland."

Sunderland's young core don't need to "fear" Premier League - they'll relish the new challenge

Considering the gulf that has opened up between the Premier League and the Championship in recent years, it is not surprising that Richards' assessment should have been so blunt.

With Premier League parachute money behind them, the odds were always stacked heavily in favour of Leeds and Burnley getting back to the top flight at the first attempt. The last time Leeds were promoted into the Premier League, in 2020, they finished their first season back in 9th place.

And Richards is right about the Burnley defence. The Clarets only conceded 16 League goals all season, and only lost two matches. This level of defensive sturdiness gives them a chance at a higher level.

But Sunderland do not find themselves in anything like the same position as these two clubs.

While they have a vast support, they have not had the advantage of parachute payments that Leeds had during their two-year stay in the Championship, and while the 44 goals they conceded in the League was a perfectly respectable total, it's still only four short of three times as many as Burnley conceded.

And the record of clubs who've been promoted through the play-offs has not been particularly good in recent years. Three of the last five teams to get promoted into the Premier League via the play-offs have been relegated straight back.

Figures from FCHD

Furthermore, the Black Cats seem likely to lose one of their most influential players, Jobe Bellingham, this summer, while their squad is already a fairly young one.

They're also already set to break their club-record transfer fee by making Enzo Le Fee's spell on loan from Roma permanent at a reported cost of £19.3 million. But Sunderland have a lot of work to do to build a squad that will give pundits greater confidence that they can avoid falling straight back next season.

When Micah Richards says that he "fears" for Sunderland, there are good reasons for him to do so, but the Sunderland squad itself shouldn't be worried about stepping up, given most of them still have plenty of potential left to grow into.

Le Bris will have to bring some more experience in to complement the current young core, but there's so many reasons to be excited for the Black Cats fanbase going into next season.