Sunderland vs Brighton Preview
Sunderland are tough to play against at the Stadium of Light and give little away at home. Brighton have a habit of dropping points on the road and the Black Cats can win or draw in the Premier League.
Key Stats - Home Strength
- Sunderland have won 5 of their last 6 home matches.
- Sunderland are unbeaten in 9 of their last 11 games against Brighton.
- Brighton are winless in 5 of their last 7 away matches.
H2H - Even Record
Brighton have a 15-14 advantage against Sunderland, alongside eight draws.
Sunderland Utilise Their Home Advantage
Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland are in excellent long-term home form and have lost once at the Stadium of Light this season.
The Black Cats won four matches in a row at home, beating Chelsea 2-1, Rennes 2-1, Fulham 1-0 and Hull 1-0. That streak ended with a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal.
The Wearside team hit back and beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in the Europa League. Sunderland had 2.96 XG and limited Alkmaar to just two shots on target.
Le Bris’ side couldn’t maintain winning form and lost 5-3 at Man City. Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick, and the Black Cats had 3.57 XG.
Brighton Less Confident Away
Brighton were on a five-match winless run on the road in all competitions, losing three. They ended last season with consecutive away defeats against Newcastle 3-1 and Leeds 1-0.
The Seagulls’ away issues continued early in the 2026/27 campaign. A 0-0 Conference League Qualifier draw at Tromso was followed by a 4-3 Premier League defeat at Chelsea.
Fabian Hurzeler bounced back from the Chelsea loss and drew 1-1 with Leeds and beat Coventry 5-0.
The south coast side then beat Arsenal 3-0 at home before the international period. Brighton had five shots on target and Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres got on the scoresheet.
Predicted Starting Lineups & Team News
Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Robin Roefs; Nordi Mukiele, Kevin Danso, Omar Alderete, Reinildo Mandava; Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki; Thomas Meunier, Enzo Le Fee, Nilson Angulo; Wilson Isidor
Midfielder Habib Diarra is ruled out with a hamstring issue. Attacker Romaine Mundle is also unavailable with a knee injury.
Brian Brobbey and Dan Ballard are expected to miss out after sustaining hamstring injuries on international duty. Regis Le Bris was cautious over Brobbey’s recovery period and said the club “won’t take any risks with him.”
Brighton (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen; Ferdi Kadioglu, Luka Vuskovic, Pascal Struijk, Olivier Boscagli; Chema Andres, Pascal Gross; Diego Gomez, Yasin Ayari, Maxim De Cuyper; Charalampos Kostoulas
Attacking trio Stefanos Tzimas, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson are ruled out with long-term injuries. Midfielder Yasin Ayari is doubtful due to illness.
Defenders Mats Wieffer and Pascal Struijk, midfielder Jack Hinshelwood and forwards Zadok Yohanna and Femi Azeez could return from injuries.
Speaking recently about new signing Yohanna, Fabian Hurzeler said, “He had a small issue and I always say that players need to have time to adapt to the Premier League, and he’s an example for this.”