Sunderland will hope to give Arsenal another tricky test at the Stadium of Light as the Premier League champions aim to extend their impressive start to their title defence.
The Gunners saw an 11-match winning run come to an end in dramatic fashion in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland last season but have started this campaign in flying form, with Martin Odegaard securing all three points against Napoli in the Champions League in midweek.
The Black Cats will aim to continue a decent start to their sophomore top-flight season, having beaten Fulham 1-0 and drawn with Brentford after a surprise defeat to Ipswich in the first game of the campaign.
Sunderland have not beaten Arsenal in their last 17 attempts but former Gunners captain Granit Xhaka continues to be the driving force at the Stadium of Light and he will hope to make life uncomfortable for his former side once again.
Follow all of the latest from the Stadium of Light below:
Le Bris’ message to home fans
If Sunderland are to get something tonight they’ll need the Stadium of Light to get right behind them.
“It’s a powerful driver,” Le Bris said pre-match of the home advantage. “It starts from us – the way we play and how we impose our ideas. If we are proactive they are behind us.
“They back us and they feed the energy for the press, second balls, counter-attacks and so on. The connection with the fans helps us a lot.”
Arteta on dealing with pre-match curveballs
Arsenal’s trip to the north east will have been more straightforward than making it to Naples in midweek.
But Arteta spoke about changing plans in his pre-match press conference and gave some interesting glimmers away.
He said: “I love those challenges. I try to create them in pre-season. So when they happen, we already experience them and we already know. So get to the stadium very late, change the routine and suddenly the players have to do something else.
“Because when it happens, and it can happen, you can miss the flight, the train can be delayed, there’s so much traffic and I don’t want the players, but not only the players, the staff as well, panicking.
“So when that happens, adapt to it. Okay, we have another two or three hours on the plane. How can we use them, play together, spend some time together, sleep? Use it, but certainly don’t complain and then use it as an excuse because that’s not helpful at all.”
When is Sunderland v Arsenal?
Sunderland’s clash with Arsenal kicks off at 8pm BST tonight at the Stadium of Light.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the UK can watch the match on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 6:30pm BST. It can also be streamed on HBO Max.
Team news as Jurrien Timber could make return
We’ll be bringing you confirmed team news in just a few minutes, but here’s what we know so far.
Mikel Arteta indicated that Jurrien Timber could make a return from injury for Arsenal tonight having missed the start of the season with a groin issue. “Let’s see,” he said in his press conference on Thursday.
Cristhian Mosquera, meanwhile, remains a doubt despite doing “really well” in his recovery from a muscle problem.
Sunderland only have the absence of Habib Diarra to contend with, as has been the case since the second game of the season. Romaine Mundle is also out but is very much down in the pecking order, especially after the arrival of Malick Fofana on deadline day.
The one-time Arsenal transfer target could now face the Gunners tonight…
Konsa’s quick settle
Arteta has been impressed by how the England centre back has eased into life at the club since his move from Aston Villa. Will he start tonight?
“Well, it’s certainly something to admire because it’s not easy at all and you should not take it for granted,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference audience.
“But after talking to a lot of people that have worked with him, whether they’re staff members or players, I already had a sense of the way everybody was talking about him, that he’s a person that is great at gathering people together, he has a real personality, a lot of leadership skills, and you saw the first day he just trained the way he was talking, the way he was presenting himself. It was very impressive and so far he’s done a really good job.”
Sunderland v Arsenal LIVE!
Sunderland will hope to give Arsenal another tricky test at the Stadium of Light as the Premier League champions aim to extend their impressive start to their title defence.
The Gunners saw an 11-match winning run come to an end in dramatic fashion in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland last season but have started this campaign in flying form, with Martin Odegaard securing all three points against Napoli in the Champions League in midweek.
The Black Cats will aim to continue a decent start to their sophomore top-flight season, having beaten Fulham 1-0 and drawn with Brentford after a surprise defeat to Ipswich in the first game of the campaign.
Sunderland have not beaten Arsenal in their last 17 attempts but former Gunners captain Granit Xhaka continues to be the driving force at the Stadium of Light and he will hope to make life uncomfortable for his former side once again.
