Sunderland have looked doomed for most of the season and it won’t be much longer before David Moyes and his players are finally put out of their misery.

The Black Cats sit rock bottom of the Premier League table, 11 points from safety, with only six matches remaining.

The only reason their heads remain above water is because of Jermain Defoe, who has scored an impressive 14 goals this season.

But Defoe, 35 in October, isn’t good enough to keep Sunderland in England’s top division single-handedly. The team’s next highest goalscorer is Victor Anichebe on three.

Moyes’s appointment has been an unmitigated disaster, although the Scot is expected to keep his job if - or rather, when - the club are relegated to the Championship.

FIFA 17 reveals if Pele could keep Sunderland up

But could Moyes have kept Sunderland in the Premier League if he’d had Pele - yes, that Pele - in his ranks?

Well, one YouTuber has used FIFA 17 to find out.

First of all, BMOnus created the Brazilian football icon using the player editor, attempting to make his statistics and physical attributes as realistic as possible.

Pele emerged as a 90-rated player, making him the joint-sixth highest rated player on the game behind Manuel Neuer, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Seems a bit harsh considering many football fans regard Pele as the greatest footballer of all time.

Halfway through the season

Anyway, after half a season with Pele in the team, Sunderland found themselves 16th in the Premier League table.

Pele's stats

Games played: 19

Goals: 7

Assists 3

End of the season

Could the three-time World Cup winner do enough during the remaining 19 games to keep the north-east outfit in the division?

Drumroll...

Of course he could!

Sunderland finished the campaign 11th in the table on 49 points.

Pele's stats

Pele bagged 12 goals and registered six assists in 38 matches.

Defoe outscored Pele

However, Defoe was Sunderland’s star performer, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists for his teammates.

No other player in the Premier League scored more goals than the England international.

All Moyes needed was Pele

So, there we have it.

All Moyesy needed was Pele and Sunderland would have been fine.

Video: Pele keeps Sunderland in the Premier League

Watch the Pele to Sunderland experiment in full here...

(H/T Dream Team)