Sunderland vs Brighton Preview: Team News & Prediction

Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!

Sunderland have started the season slowly as The Black Cats now welcome a brilliant and entertaining Brighton and Hove Albion side to the Stadium of Light.

Kick-off date/time: 10 October 2026 at 3:00 pm

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / USA – NBC

How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / USA – Peacock

Sunderland preview: Slow starting Sunderland

Competing in the UEFA Europa League, and winning their first league phase game against AZ Alkmaar, Sunderland would be forgiven for being distracted at the start of this season whereby they have managed one win in five Premier League games.

The Black Cats went into the international break on the back of a tough run of fixtures in which they were competitive but lost 2-0 to champions Arsenal before a thrilling 5-3 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Brighton preview: Soaring Seagulls

Since drawing 0-0 with Tromso in the Arctic Circle in the first-leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round tie, Brighton and Hove Albion have now scored 23 goals in seven matches across all competitions.

The Seagulls went into the break after hammering Coventry City by five goals to nil, coming from 2-0 down to beat Manchester United in the EFL Cup and then impressively beating aforementioned champions Arsenal at the AMEX Stadium.

Sunderland team news: International injuries

Brian Brobbey had to withdraw from international duty with the Netherlands after sustaining an injury against Germany, while Noah Sadiki is also a doubt and Dan Ballard has sustained a hamstring injury.

Habib Diarra is working his way back to full fitness and Reinildo has returned from suspension but Romaine Mundle remains sidelined for a few months.

Further details will appear here following pre-match press conferences…

Predicted XI (3-4-3): Roefs; Mukiele, Danso, Alderete; Meunier, Le Fee, Xhaka, Methalie; N. Angulo, Isidor, Fofana

Unavailable: Ballard (Injured), Mundle (Injured)

Questionable: Diarra (Fitness), Sadiki (Injured), Brobbey (Injured)

Brighton team news: Many could return

Brighton captain Lewis Dunk missed out against Arsenal but he was close to making that one anyway and so is expected to return after the break.

Kaoru Mitoma has missed the start of the season as well as the end of the last one but is also nearing a return, while fellow winger Yankuba Minteh remains sidelined for a few weeks just yet.

Further details will appear here following pre-match press conferences…

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Dunk, Vuskovic, Boscagli; Chema, Gross; Gomez, Ayari, De Cuyper; Kostoulas

Unavailable: Minteh (Injured), Tzimas (Injured), Ferguson (Injured)

Questionable: Dunk (Fitness), Struijk (Injured), Hinshelwood (Injured), Azeez (Fitness), Mitoma (Fitness), Yohanna (Fitness)

Key stats

• The teams have met only twice in the Premier League, both last season: 0-0 at the Amex in December 2025, then a 1-0 Brighton win at the Stadium of Light in March 2026. 
• Brighton kept a clean sheet in both of those games, so Sunderland have yet to score against them in the Premier League. 
• Brighton have scored 16 goals in five games, a club record after five games of a Premier League season (previous best: 15 in 2023/24). Coming into Matchweek 6, no other team had scored more. 
• Coming into Matchweek 6, Brighton's matches have averaged 4.20 goals, second only to Chelsea's (4.40). 
• Brighton have kept back-to-back clean sheets, winning 5-0 at Coventry and 3-0 at home to Arsenal. Their three clean sheets this season are the joint-most in the league coming into Matchweek 6. 
• Brighton have kept five clean sheets in their last 10 Premier League games, and they have scored in all five league games this season. 
• Brighton won four of their last 10 Premier League away games (D1 L5). 
• Sunderland have lost their last two games (0-2 v Arsenal, 3-5 at Manchester City) and are winless in three, conceding in each of them. 
• Sunderland finished seventh last season on their return to the top flight, winning nine of 19 home games (D6 L4) and keeping seven home clean sheets. 
• Sunderland have conceded 10 goals in five games, and their matches have averaged 3.20 goals. 
• Sunderland have won 108 of their 410 Premier League games played on a Saturday (26.3%). 

Sunderland vs Brighton prediction

The international break came at a frustrating time for a Brighton side that have had a busy start to the season and had found a fluency and rhythm that no other team in the league have yet matched, as shown by their hammering of Arsenal. However, they may well have to rediscover that fluency now and Sunderland can be very obdurate opponents, especially with home advantage, so perhaps siding with the Wearsiders is a decent value bet for this one.

Sunderland vs Brighton tip: Double chance – Sunderland to win or draw