Preview: Sunderland vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Brighton & Hove Albion will be looking to build on their strong start to the new Premier League season when they travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

The Seagulls picked up all three points in their most recent away match against the Black Cats in March, with a second-half strike from Yankuba Minteh sealing a slender 1-0 victory.

Match preview

After five Premier League matches, Sunderland have collected only four points, but given the way in which Regis Le Bris’s spirited side have acquitted themselves, the Black Cats will rightly feel aggrieved not to be sitting higher than 14th in the table with a larger points total.

Sunderland dominated large spells of their 1-1 draw with Brentford and frustrated champions Arsenal in a 2-0 home defeat before going “toe-to-toe” with leaders Manchester City, but ultimately losing 5-3 in an eventful contest prior to the international break.

In a game that saw the Black Cats peg City back twice in the first half, Brian Brobbey became the sixth player to score a Premier League hat-trick and come away on the losing side, with Le Bris’s men unable to build on their historic 1-0 Europa League triumph over AZ Alkmaar a few days earlier.

Seeking to avoid a third successive Premier League defeat for the first time since securing promotion back to the top tier last season, Sunderland have failed to win any of their last four encounters with Brighton (D1 L3) since a 2-0 home victory as a Championship club back in October 2004.

However, the Black Cats will hope that their direct approach could nullify Brighton’s high press this time around, as only Man City (19) have had fewer high turnovers against them in the top-flight this season than Le Bris’s men (20).

Brighton produced the performance of gameweek five in the Premier League as they stunned champions Arsenal by winning 3-0 at the Amex Stadium three weeks ago, courtesy of goals from Pascal Gross – September’s Player of the Month – Charalampos Kostoulas and new signing Chema Anders.

A “special” win hailed by head coach Fabian Hurzeler means that the Seagulls have now won on home soil against the reigning Premier League champions in each of the last three seasons, having previously beaten Man City in 2024-25 and Liverpool in 2025-26.

Sitting third in the table with 10 points from five matches (W3 D1 L1), Brighton have particularly excelled in attack so far this season having scored a division-high 16 goals, while they have also netted seven times across their Conference League and EFL Cup fixtures.

The Seagulls have already scored at least three goals in six of their eight matches across all competitions this term, but only once in their last 12 meetings with Sunderland have they ever netted 3+ goals – a 3-0 league win back in November 1988.

Brighton have also impressed defensively and will head into Saturday’s contest bidding to win three consecutive Premier League matches without conceding for the first time since October 2018; they have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three games versus the Black Cats.

Sunderland Premier League form:

Sunderland form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Team News

Sunderland pair Brian Brobbey and Daniel Ballard are ruled out with hamstring injuries sustained on international duty, joining Habib Diarra (hamstring) and Romaine Mundle (knee) in the treatment room.

Wilson Isidor is expected to replace Brobbey as the central striker and could be supported in attack by Nilson Angulo and Malick Fofana, the latter of whom is hoping to make his full Premier League debut since joining on deadline day.

Le Bris will weigh up whether to hand Luke O'Nein or Omar Alderete a start at centre-back in the absence of Ballard, or move Nordi Mukiele over from right-back into the heart of the defence alongside Kevin Danso.

Thomas Meunier and Trai Hume may therefore battle for a start at right-back, while Reinildo Mandava could replace Dayann Methalie at left-back after serving a one-match suspension.

As for Brighton, Yankuba Minteh (calf), Stefanos Tzimas (knee), Pascal Struijk (thigh) and Evan Ferguson (ankle) all remain sidelined with injuries.

Lewis Dunk missed the win over Arsenal due to a neck injury, but the Seagulls skipper returned to training earlier this week and could be ready to start alongside Luka Vuskovic at centre-back..

Jack Hinshelwood (unspecified), Mats Wieffer (knee), Kaoru Mitoma, Femi Azeez (both thigh), Yasin Ayari (illness) and Zadok Yohanna (unspecified) will also be assessed ahead of kickoff.

With five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in his last three appearances, Charalampos Kostoulas will hope to be rewarded with another start up front on Saturday, which would force Georginio Rutter to begin as a substitute.

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

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

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Kadioglu, Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli; Gross, Ayari; Gomez, Yalcouye, De Cuyper; Kostoulas

We say: Sunderland 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton have been finding the net for fun this term, and they will fancy their chances in front of goal against a Sunderland defence that shipped five goals against Man City last time out and has managed just one clean sheet in their last seven Premier League outings.

Although the Black Cats possess the tactical credentials to frustrate Hurzeler’s side, we are backing the free-scoring Seagulls to outscore their opponents and pick up maximum points once again.

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