Sunderland vs Arsenal Preview: Team News & Prediction

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Sunderland will expect to be as steady as ever at the Stadium of Light as they now welcome defending champions Arsenal to Wearside.

Kick-off date/time: 12 September 2026 at 8:00 pm

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / USA – USA Network

How to watch online: UK – HBO Max / USA – DirecTV Stream

Sunderland preview: Steady Sunderland

Last season, following their promotion to the top-flight, Sunderland finished seventh and qualified for the UEFA Europa League with a very strong home record and Regis Le Bris will be seeking to emulate this time around, too.

The Black Cats have won their one home league game this season, against Fulham, as well as in midweek in the EFL Cup against Hull City. They began with a 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Ipswich Town in their opener and shared a 1-1 draw with Brentford last week.

Arsenal preview: Five from five

Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side are well settled and will be aiming for multiple pieces of silverware this season with the reigning English champions kicking off their campaign by hammering Manchester City by three goals to nil in the Community Shield.

Since then, they have started with three wins from three in the Premier League, including a come from behind defeat of Chelsea last week, before starting their UEFA Champions League league phase campaign with a 1-0 win away at Napoli in midweek.

Sunderland team news: Couple of absentees

Sunderland have played a flexible system this season that goes from a back three to a four within game and Regis Le Bris may prefer the former given the strength of their opposition.

The hosts have a couple of long-term absentees at the moment with midfielder Habib Diarra sidelined alongside winger Romaine Mundle. Malick Fofana came off the bench against Brentford

Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Reinildo; Meunier, Sadiki, Xhaka, Hume; Le Fee, N. Angulo; Brobbey

Unavailable: Diarra (Injured), Mundle (Injured)

Questionable: 

Arsenal team news: Back to full strength

Arsenal made a few changes for their trip to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples in midweek but will be expected to return to a full strength team this time around.

In terms of injury issues, both Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber are working their way back to full fitness, while William Saliba is expected to be sidelined until at least November.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Odegaard, Tzolis; Havertz

Unavailable: Saliba (Injured)

Questionable: Mosquera (Injured), Timber (Fitness)

Sunderland vs Arsenal prediction

As part of their impressive home record last season, Sunderland were able to hold Arsenal to an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light in the autumn. Again under the lights, Sunderland will hope to use their fierce home support to their advantage but this is an Arsenal side that look perhaps even better and even more solid than last year – and so another Arsenal win, albeit in another lower scoring contest, again seems a decent bet.

Sunderland vs Arsenal tip: Arsenal to win & under 3.5 goals