Preview: Brentford vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

Perfect at home meets pointless away in Saturday's Premier League fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium, where Brentford host Sunderland in gameweek three.

The Bees settled for a 1-1 draw away to Leeds United last time out, while the Black Cats got on the board at the second time of asking in a 1-0 success over Fulham.

Match preview

The sensational Kevin Schade streak continued at Elland Road last weekend, where the Brentford attacker's audacious flick put Keith Andrews's side a goal to the good against Leeds, who had to pull off a never-before-seen feat to deny the Bees a slice of the spoils.

Brentford had never lost a Premier League game in which Schade had scored before gameweek two, and that sequence was prolonged against the Whites, even if Dominic Calvert-Lewin stole a point back for Daniel Farke's side late on.

Four points from two top-flight fixtures - either side of a 6-1 battering of Birmingham City in the EFL Cup - represents an ultimately successful start to the season for Brentford, who occupy a top-five place in the Premier League table at the time of writing.

Already hitting the 10-goal mark across all competitions this season, Brentford's double-figure haul comes as no surprise when learning that Andrews's men have already had a staggering 48 shots in the Premier League in 2026-27, only inferior to Manchester United's 54.

What is more, the hosts are slowly but surely shutting up shop at home, keeping five Premier League clean sheets at the Gtech Community Stadium in 2026 - as many as they managed in 2024 and 2025 combined.

Speaking of home shut-outs, Sunderland dispelled any early-season relegation talk - at least for the time being - in their gritty one-goal triumph over Fulham in matchweek two, when Wilson Isidor was the hero of the hour.

The Frenchman's winner 15 minutes from time - and 11 minutes after his introduction off the bench - earned Sunderland their first victory in any tournament in 2026-27, having been granted a bye into the EFL Cup third round owing to their European participation.

Regis Le Bris's have already had plenty of on-field successes to celebrate in 2026, but the Stadium of Light faithful also rejoiced in a significant off-field triumph on transfer deadline day, when they secured the signature of ex-Lyon attacker Malick Fofana despite a sensational hijack attempt from Crystal Palace.

The Belgian trickster reinforces an attack that showed increasing endeavour against Fulham, accumulating 2.02 Expected Goals in gameweek two, their second-highest total in a single game since their return to the top flight last year.

However, Sunderland have lost their last three Premier League fixtures in London - conceding three goals on each occasion too - and January's 3-0 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium extended their winless streak in this exact match to four.

Brentford Premier League form:

Brentford form (all competitions):

Sunderland Premier League form:

Team News

Brentford new boy El Hadji Malick Diouf was an unused substitute against Leeds following his £35m arrival from West Ham United, and the left-back may be fighting a losing battle to make his full debut here after Keane Lewis-Potter delivered the cross for Schade to open the scoring at Elland Road.

While Schade is off the mark, Igor Thiago is yet to find the net despite having seven shots; only Brighton & Hove Albion's Diego Gomez (eight) has had more attempts without scoring in the 2026-27 Premier League.

Antoni Milambo (knee), Sepp van den Berg (groin), Mathias Jensen (strain) and Josh Dasilva (knock) are taking up beds in the infirmary, so Andrews should be working with an identical squad from the trip to West Yorkshire.

As well as winning the race for Fofana, Sunderland also added Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Danso to their ranks on September 1, and the duo are both in line for debuts on Saturday.

However, the Black Cats were dealt a fresh concern against Fulham when Habib Diarra pulled up with a thigh issue just 18 minutes after coming off the bench, although Le Bris is hopeful that he has avoided a serious injury.

Simon Adingra also sat out the gameweek two victory due to an ankle concern, but the attacker has since been loaned out to Ajax, while new recruit Dayann Methalie is available after serving a suspension for yellow cards he incurred in Ligue 1.

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Sangare; Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Meunier, Mukiele, Ballard, Reinildo; Xhaka, Sadiki; Fofana, Le Fee, Angulo; Isidor

We say: Brentford 2-1 Sunderland

Brentford's recent clean sheet streak at the Gtech may count for little against a Sunderland side who had few issues generating chances against Fulham, but the Black Cats' recent record in London makes for grim reading.

Even though Thiago is yet to find his shooting boots this season, Andrews's attack-minded Brentford still have our backing to come up trumps in this fascinating battle.

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