Sunderland begin life back in the Premier League at home to West Ham after an eight-year absence.
Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats were promoted via last season’s Championship Play-Offs, whilst West Ham begin their first full season under Graham Potter following his arrival in January.
Team News
Sunderland could hand debuts to new signings; Omar Alderete, Marc Guiu and ex-Hammer, Arthur Masuaku if pass fitness checks.
Aji Alese, Luke O’Nien (both shoulder), Leo Hjelde (Achilles), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Dennis Cirkin (wrist) are sidelined.
West Ham will be without George Earthy after he suffered an ankle injury in pre-season.
Crysencio Summerville remains absent with an on-going hamstring injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host West Ham at Stadium of Light at 3pm BST on Saturday 16 August, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland are winless in their last eight meetings against West Ham (D4, L4).
- West Ham are unbeaten in their last four trips to Sunderland (W1, D3).
- Sunderland have never drawn four consecutive home matches against West Ham.
- Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats only kept two clean sheets in pre-season (W2, D2, L5).
- Niclas Fullkrug has scored three goals in pre-season for West Ham.
Prediction
Having heavily built upon much of the core promotion-winning squad with extra quality signings despite losing Tom Watson and Jobe Bellingham, Sunderland to some are unrecognisable which is a big risk for any promoted team who invest heavily.
I however do feel that they have invested well specifically at left-back given Cirkin’s injury issues whilst Granit Xhaka brings experience in place of Bellingham, but they will need time to click so the home support could be key to motivating them here.
West Ham meanwhile were inconsistent last season with just three competitive clean sheets in 2025 alone which will put eyes on Mads Hermansen and Kyle Walker-Peters following their arrivals, with fans expecting a better season if can find some consistency.
My instinct however is that this could be a pretty drab game given Sunderland’s revamp and West Ham’s inconsistency, but the Hammers do have Jarrod Bowen who could be the difference with the right service from his teammates.
Prediction: Sunderland 0-1 West Ham
Result: Sunderland 3-0 West Ham