Sunderland vs Arsenal Preview
Sunderland are a low-scoring side and keep things cagey at the Stadium of Light. Arsenal have enough quality to break down the Black Cats and can win to nil in the Premier League.
Key Stats - Arsenal Solid at the Back
- Arsenal have won 8 consecutive Premier League games.
- Arsenal have won to nil in their last 2 away matches.
- Sunderland have had -1 XG in 2 of their last 4 games.
H2H - Gunners on Top
Arsenal have a 64-50 advantage against Sunderland, alongside 42 draws.
Sunderland in Patchy Early Season Form
Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland have had mixed results early in the 2026/27 season. The north east side are winless in two of their opening four, scoring four and conceding three.
The Black Cats fell to an opening match 2-1 defeat at newly promoted Ipswich and had just 0.66 XG. Le Bris’ team recovered with a 1-0 home win against Fulham and a 1-1 away draw at Brentford.
Sunderland played out a cagey 1-0 EFL Cup home win against Hull on Tuesday. They had -1 XG and Chemsdine Talbi found the breakthrough with 19 minutes left.
Arsenal Have Class at Both Ends
Premier League champions Arsenal are in excellent recent form and have avoided defeat in 13 competitive matches. Mikel Arteta’s side have won 11 and kept nine clean sheets during that spell.
The Gunners have started the new season with a five-match winning streak. Arsenal comfortably beat Man City 3-0 in the Community Shield in August.
Premier League victories against Coventry 3-0, Aston Villa 1-0 and Chelsea 2-1 followed. Arteta’s outfit allowed -1 XG total across those three matches.
Arsenal produced another solid display in a 1-0 Champions League win at Napoli. Martin Odegaard scored in the second half and the Gunners dominated with 4.04-0.23 XG.
Predicted Starting Lineups & Team News
Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Robin Roefs; Nordi Mukiele, Kevin Danso, Dan Ballard, Reinildo Mandava; Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki; Thomas Meunier, Enzo Le Fee, Nilson Angulo; Brian Brobbey
Winger Romaine Mundle is out with a knee issue and midfielder Habib Diarra has a hamstring injury.
Regis Le Bris spoke about Mundle’s condition ahead of the Arsenal game and said, “Romaine has a knee injury, which is a shame because he had a good pre-season. We will support him and hope he is ready by the end of the year.”
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): David Raya; Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori; Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly; Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Christos Tzolis; Kai Havertz
Centre-back William Saliba is unavailable due to a back problem.
Defenders Jurrien Timber and Cristhian Mosquera could return to the squad after recent injuries. Mikel Arteta gave a positive recent update on Timber’s recovery from a groin issue and said:
“Jurrien is in really good condition at the moment, he’s been a few weeks on the pitch and has been training with us, so he’s in a really good place.”