Chelsea vs Sunderland Timeline & H2H Stats

Anyone who has ever watched any of the Sunderland ’Til I Die documentary will be more than aware of the north-east club’s various issues in recent years. The club was relegated out of the Premier League and then seemed to keep on dropping, spending four seasons in League One before enjoying a trip back up the English Football League. It sits in stark contrast to the fortunes of Chelsea, with the several-time top-flight champions never having to worry about relegation in the same way that Black Cats supporters have had to in their recent history.

With that in mind, you would be forgiven for thinking that Chelsea’s record against Sunderland would be one of dominance throughout the history of the two sides, but that would not be quite true. Although it’s certainly the case that the Blues have had the edge during the time that the two teams have been playing against one another. That, though, doesn’t tell the full story, given the fact that the Black Cats have more than been able to hold their own, actually defeating Chelsea when the two teams played one another for the first time back in 1907, two years after the Stamford Bridge side’s formation.

No Major Dominance From Either Side

Often, when you look at the history between two football clubs, you will see that one of them has often gone on long runs of wins, only occasionally broken up by a draw or defeat. In the case of Chelsea and Sunderland, that didn’t really happen until the Roman Abramovich era of ownership of the London side. After drawing 0-0 on the ninth of December 2001, Chelsea then went on an 11-game winning run against the Black Cats, following that up with six more wins after something of a shock 3-0 loss at Stamford Bridge on the 14th of November 2010. Other than that period, it’s been much more common to see the honours shared.

That even extends to the modern era, with Sunderland winning in the League Cup in the December of 2014 before following that up with an away win against the Blues in the Premier League the following April. Back-to-back Chelsea victories were again spoilt by another Sunderland win in the May of 2016. In other words, assumptions that Chelsea will definitely win merely on account of the position of the two sides in the Football League can quickly be made to look rather foolish. This isn’t a rivalry as such, but the two teams have certainly been able to take points off one another as if it was one.

Chelsea’s Full Match History Against Sunderland