Sunderland team news: Dunk back, Hinshelwood being assessed

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Albion will be looking to secure their fourth Premier League win of the campaign.

2026-10-09T10:45+01:00

Lewis Dunk missed the 3-0 win over Arsenal. 📸 by BHAFC.

Our men’s first team return to Premier League action this Saturday as they head to Sunderland, kick-off 3pm.

Team news

Jack Hinshelwood's last Premier League appearance was on the opening day against Aston Villa. 📸 by James Boardman.

Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Fabian Hurzeler said, "Lewis Dunk will be back, Jack Hinshelwood trained this week. But we have to see if it makes sense to include him in the squad this weekend, because the next weeks will be busy with games, so it's about managing the players. But overall, these two players are available.

"Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer and Kaoru Mitoma are getting closer, they're not fit yet. Hopefully we see them back in the squad soon.

"Stefanos Tzimas is doing well, but it's still too early. Evan Ferguson is similar - we have to wait some more weeks.

"Yasin Ayari is available."

Our last meeting

#brightonandhovealbion #sunderland #minteh #premierleague Action from the Stadium of Light as Sunderland and Brighton meet for the first time in 20 years on Wearside. Highlights in partnership with @mpbcom. Buy, sell and trade used camera gear. https://bit.ly/MPB457

Match facts

Sunderland have won just one of their eight top-flight meetings with Brighton (D2 L5), beating them 3-0 at Roker Park in May 1982.

Brighton have won just one of their last 10 away league games against Sunderland (D2 L7), though it was in this exact fixture last season (1-0 in March).

Sunderland have lost both of their last two Premier League games, against last season’s top two in Arsenal (0-2) and Manchester City (3-5); they only lost three in a row once in 2025-26, doing so in February against the Gunners (0-3), Liverpool (0-1), and Fulham (1-3).

Brighton have won both of their last two Premier League games by an aggregate score of 8-0; only in October 2018 have they won three successive matches in the competition without conceding.

Only Brentford (3.82) have accumulated a higher xG from set pieces (ex. penalties) than Sunderland in the Premier League this season (3.19), while Brighton have the highest xG against from set pieces (4.31).

Only Manchester City (19) have had fewer high turnovers against them in the Premier League this season than Sunderland (20), while the Black Cats rank second for the percentage of their phases with direct passing (15.0% - moving the ball at least 32 metres upfield within a four second period), behind only Coventry (15.2%).

79.6% of Brighton’s pressures in the Premier League this season have been high-intensity pressures (1,165/1,463); only Nottingham Forest (83.8%) have a higher proportion, while the Seagulls lead the competition for high turnovers (56), PPDA (7.4), and possession (64.8%).

Only Youri Tielemans (37) has made more line-breaking passes into the final third this season than Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka (36), while only three players have made more line-breaking passes leading to shots than Xhaka’s 12.

Bart Verbruggen could keep his third consecutive clean sheet on Saturday. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Only Gianluigi Donnarumma (8.25) has prevented more goals in the Premier League since the start of last season based on Opta’s expected goals on target model than Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen (8.02 – 55.02 xGoT conceded, 47 goals conceded excluding own goals), who could keep three successive clean sheets for the very first time in the competition.

In 2026, only Bruno Fernandes (98) and Dominik Szoboszlai (58) have created more chances than Brighton’s Pascal Groß (54), while ranking sixth for expected assists (4.68). He could also become only the second midfielder to both score and assist in three successive Premier League games, after Cesc Fàbregas in September 2007.

Match officials