🏏 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:00 BST
Sunderland AFC
vs
Brighton & Hove Albion
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
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- Sunderland sit 14th on four points from five matches, with six goals scored, ten conceded and a goal difference of -4. Brighton arrive third on ten points, their +11 difference from 16 goals scored and just five conceded the best figure in the division, ahead even of leaders Manchester City (15 points, +8). Six points separate the two sides.
- The recent trajectories could hardly be more different. Sunderland have lost twice in a row, going down 0-2 at home to Arsenal before conceding five in a 5-3 defeat at Manchester City, leaving them with one win in five (L-W-D-L-L). Brighton, by contrast, won 5-0 at Coventry and then beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex, so both clubs come into this fixture off very different experiences against the same opponent.
- For Brighton's reserve goalkeeper Jason Steele this is a return to a former club. The 36-year-old Englishman spent time at Sunderland earlier in a career that also took in Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers. He is valued as much for his coaching and dressing-room leadership as for his shot-stopping.
- Both goalkeepers are Dutch. Sunderland's Robin Roefs, 23 and 193cm, made his name at NEC Nijmegen and is a rare left-footed keeper whose distribution helps start build-up play. Bart Verbruggen, 24 and 194cm, came through Anderlecht and combines long-limbed shot-stopping with accurate long passes out to the wingers. Brighton left-back Ferdi Kadioglu is another NEC graduate, sharing a former club with his opposite number.
- The central midfield battle pits experience against youth on both sides. Granit Xhaka, 34, captains Sunderland and brings title-winning seasons at Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen plus a powerful left foot, alongside 21-year-old DR Congo international Noah Sadiki, an Anderlecht academy product via Union Saint-Gilloise. Brighton answer with 35-year-old Pascal Gross, back from Borussia Dortmund in January 2026, and 21-year-old Chema Andres, a 190cm holding midfielder who won the 2024 Under-19 European Championship with Spain.
- Brighton's back line features two tall left-footed centre-backs. Luka Vuskovic, still only 19, made his Croatia debut at 16 and arrived via Hajduk Split and Tottenham, while 190cm Pascal Struijk is an Ajax academy graduate who spent years as a mainstay at Leeds United. Testing them is Wilson Isidore, the 26-year-old 186cm Frenchman formerly of Zenit St Petersburg and AS Monaco, whose pace and physicality make him a threat in behind.
- Sunderland's right flank is staffed by two former Paris Saint-Germain men. Thomas Meunier, 35 and 190cm, has 76 Belgium caps and years of service at PSG and Borussia Dortmund, while Nordi Mukiele, 28, also arrived from PSG and can cover both centre-back and right-back with plenty of Champions League experience. Facing them is Belgium left-back Maxim De Cuyper, 25, whose left-footed crossing and set-piece delivery were honed in Champions League football at Club Brugge.
- Brighton lead the line with 19-year-old Greek forward Charalampos Kostoulas, a 185cm striker signed from Olympiacos whose hold-up play and finishing have marked him out as one of his country's brightest prospects. He is up against Kevin Danso, the 190cm Austria international who dominates aerially and in one-on-one duels after establishing himself at Lens in Ligue 1. That physical contest could decide where the game turns.
- There is firepower in reserve too. Sunderland can call on 21-year-old Morocco winger Chemsdine Talbi, a roughly £16.5m signing from Club Brugge, and Belgium's Malick Fofana, 21, who moved from Gent to Lyon for 17 million euros in January 2024. Brighton's bench includes Denmark midfielder Matt O'Riley, a former Scottish Premiership player of the year at Celtic, ex-Leeds forward Georginio Rutter and 34-year-old one-club legend Lewis Dunk.