Former Sunderland and England boss Sam Allardyce has warned against complacency after his former club's "entertaining" start to the Premier League season.
Speaking on Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, in partnership with BOYLE Sports, Allardyce was joined by former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen, and the pair had high praise for Sunderland's start to the Premier League campaign.
Allardyce stated things are back where they used to be - and he is excited at the prospect of promoted clubs surviving in the Premier League this season, something which hasn't been seen for a while.
He said: "At last we're back to how the Premier League used to be. It's taken us three seasons to get where we've always been, where the promoted three have done their very best, and at least two out of three would survive.
"Sunderland have put points on the board now to challenge everybody else, which makes for great entertainment. The top of the league isn't being challenged enough, I don't think, and the newly promoted teams have been a breath of fresh air.
"The Premier League has always been about that, the bottom can beat the top at some stage of the season. That's why the whole world likes to watch it."
However, Allardyce warned that Sunderland can't get too complacent.
"The fans will be loving it, they're filling the stadium every week and getting behind the team and really enjoying how they've started, but what they don't need to do is get too complacent. That can smack you straight in the face quicker than you know.
"This is the best time for them to play Man United this weekend. This is the best chance they'll ever have at beating Man United, if they're on top of their game."
Meulensteen believes that Sunderland have more to prove to ensure their survival.
He said: "Sunderland have started brilliantly and you need that, but I bet you a bottom dollar they'll run into a sequence where they lose two or three games on the trot, and it's how you react to that.
"Teams like West Ham and Aston Villa, who are still down there, they'll find their groove and come up. It's still early doors. That's what Sunderland has to prove; they're riding that wave at the moment, but when the wave flattens out, how do you react to that?"
Meulensteen also stressed the importance of Granit Xhaka to the club.
He said: "Xhaka is important for them, experience, a leader, and younger players look up to him with what he's done with Arsenal and [Bayer] Leverkusen, you need those players to call into your office once in a while, the leaders. They'll sort it out for the team."