Preview: Sunderland vs Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking to shake off their embarrassing FA Cup exit, Crystal Palace travel to the Stadium of Light for a Premier League clash against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

Nothing could separate these two teams when they butted heads in the reverse fixture four months ago, as they played out a goalless stalemate at Selhurst Park.

Match preview

Sunderland enter this weekend’s contest after beating Everton on penalties to progress from the FA Cup third round, with star goalkeeper Robin Roefs saving three successive spot-kicks to help the Black Cats claim a 3-0 shootout victory following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.

However, Regis Le Bris’s men are still searching for their first Premier League win of 2026 and have failed to pick up maximum points since beating rivals Newcastle United on December 14. Indeed, four consecutive draws with Brighton, Leeds, Man City and Tottenham were followed by a 3-0 defeat at Brentford last time out.

Premier League goals have been at a premium for the Black Cats, who have failed to score in four of their last seven games, having previously drawn a blank in only four of their first 14 top-flight fixtures this term. Since the start of December, they have scored the fewest goals (four) and have the lowest xG total (6.6).

Sitting 10th in the table and only three points behind Brentford in fifth, Sunderland will welcome a return to the Stadium of Light where they remain unbeaten in their 10 Premier League home games this season (W5 D5). In English top-flight history, only seven newly-promoted teams have enjoyed a longer unbeaten start to a campaign on home soil, most recently Ipswich in 1992-93 (11).

However, the Black Cats are winless in their last five home league matches against Saturday’s opponents Crystal Palace (D3 L2) and have suffered defeat in two of their last three encounters with the Eagles, more than they lost across their first 15 meetings (W7 D7 L1).

Unlike Sunderland, FA Cup holders Crystal Palace were deservedly dumped out in the third round last weekend. Just eight months after lifting their first major trophy, the Eagles suffered a 2-1 defeat to sixth-tier outfit Macclesfield who are ranked 117 places below them in the English football pyramid.

Head coach Oliver Glasner stated after the match that his side "lacked everything" and "deserved to lose", with their latest setback extending their winless run in all competitions to nine matches (D3 L6) – their last victory came against Shelbourne (3-0) in the Conference League on December 11.

Only relegation-threatened West Ham (one) have accumulated fewer Premier League points than Crystal Palace (two - D2 L4) over the last six gameweeks. Away from home, the Eagles have lost their last two and they last suffered three successive defeats on the road under former boss Roy Hodgson in February 2024.

Sitting 13th in the table and two points behind Sunderland in 10th, Palace are without a goal in their last two top-flight matches; not since Patrick Vieira’s final four league games in charge in February/March 2023 have the Eagles endured a longer run in the division without making the net ripple.

Defensive frailties have also crept into Palace’s game in recent weeks, particularly from dead-ball situations, as they have conceded 12 PL goals from set pieces this season (excluding penalties); only Bournemouth (14), Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and West Ham (all 13) have conceded more. Meanwhile, 38% (8/21) of Sunderland’s goals this term have come from set pieces, which is the second-highest proportion of any team in the division.

Sunderland Premier League form:

Sunderland form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

Sunderland duo Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi are still away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal and Morocco respectively, while Arthur Masuaku (ankle), Bertrand Traore (knee) and Aji Alese (shoulder) are all sidelined with injuries.

Regis Le Bris was boosted by the return of Noah Sadiki from AFCON last weekend, while Reinildo Mandava is now also available and is in contention to start at left-back ahead of Dennis Cirkin.

Brian Brobbey is “okay” despite coming off against Everton with a precautionary hamstring issue, and the Dutchman could start again up front ahead of Wilson Isidor, while Simon Adingra and either Eliezer Mayenda or Chris Rigg begin on the flanks.

As for Crystal Palace, Ismaila Sarr is still away on AFCON duty with finalists Senegal, while Daniel Munoz, Cheick Doucoure, Chadi Riad (all knee), Eddie Nketiah, Daichi Kamada (both thigh), Nathaniel Clyne (groin), Rio Cardines (muscle) and Caleb Kporha (back) are all ruled out with injuries.

A late call will be made on the availability of Jefferson Lerma, who has been dealing with concussion that forced him to miss the FA Cup defeat to Macclesfield. Adam Wharton and Will Hughes could therefore continue in centre-midfield.

Club-record January signing Brennan Johnson will be pushing to earn a recall in the final third and could play alongside Yeremy Pino in an advanced role in behind striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was rested against Macclesfield and is the Eagles’ top scorer with 10 goals this term. However, the Frenchman has netted just one goal in his last eight league games.

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo; Xhaka, Sadiki; Mayenda, Le Fee, Adingra; Brobbey

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Devenny, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Johnson, Pino; Mateta

We say: Sunderland 1-0 Crystal Palace

The away side has not lost any of the last eight Premier League encounters between Sunderland and Crystal Palace (W5 D3) since the Eagles claimed a 3-1 win at Selhurst Park in August 2013, so success for Sunderland is not a given this weekend.

However, the Stadium of Light has been a fortress for the Black Cats since they secured promotion and we are backing the host to frustrate an out-of-sorts Eagles outfit on this occasion, en route to claiming a slender, hard-fought victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.