Sunday 25th October 2026
Sunderland v Leeds United – Premier League
Stadium of Light – Kick-Off: 16:30
Match Coverage
TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via Sky Sports.
Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)
Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.sbnation.com!
The build-up…
Well, that was some seven days for a Sunderland fan in so many ways. For a start, it was probably inevitable that we’d get our longest away trip sandwiched between trips to Portugal and Poland. To those who made it to all three games, firstly I’m very jealous you had the time and the spare cash – and secondly, I salute you.
But what did we learn from those seven days? I think we are learning that European competition is a little different. We had two games where we dominated and should have been out of sight earlier in the game, potentially allowing us to preserve energy by closing games out with a slow tempo. We got caught with a sucker punch in both games and ended up experiencing frantic finishes to both games.
It’s been said once or twice that it’s been over half a century since we did this, so it’s understandable if we’re a bit out of practice.
And that’s all fine. It’s a new experience for everyone. A good few have done this with other clubs, but the players are doing this for the first time as a group, and we’re learning with every minute we play in the competition. As are us fans in terms of navigating across Europe and the money it costs when Sunderland fan-demand is added to the equation. It’s a process.
The worrying aspect of the week was Bournemouth, and the question is still outstanding in terms of seeing a reaction. The varying levels of opponents in Europe make it a tough gig to analyse those performances relating to future games in the Premier League. In some ways it would have been saying we’d struggle in the run-in to last season based on our performance at Port Vale.
We need to see a reaction in the Premier League. After our first six defeats last season – which didn’t happen until the 24th of January, and we’ve lost five already – we bounced back immediately and won the next game each time.
Today is the day we need that spirit back. We need to find ourselves to get back on track and have everyone focus on the target of putting 40 points on the board as quickly as possible. We need to get our season started.
It’s not the first or the last time we’ll say this, but our opponents this weekend benefit from having a full week on the training ground rather than our trip to Poland – as nice as it was. Not only that, but they have a bit of momentum behind them.
After seven games, they are already a quarter of the way to that magical forty-point mark – when compared to last season, they were on eleven points after thirteen games. In their opening seven fixtures, the only defeat came at Arsenal, where they could have quite easily taken something from the game.
The only slight gripe that Leeds fans are currently voicing is that they could have been more ambitious in games which might have seen them in an even better position than they currently stand. Chances were missed at home to Brentford and at Brighton, and then there was a frustrating afternoon against a lackluster Crystal Palace side where frustration was heard following a goalless draw.
A similar pattern followed last time out when Manchester United managed to take a draw from Elland Road. The performance was described as below par by some Leeds fans on an afternoon when United looked there for the taking (see Como in midweek).
But it’s all signs of how far Leeds have come, and the bottom line is that they are ticking the points tally over nicely. They also take on three of the bottom six in their next few fixtures, which provides the chance to set a high target for the remainder of the season. This all comes at a good time for Daniel Farke as he is currently out of contract at the end of the season.
It’s also interesting to note that in the summer there were comments coming from the club that they had learned from their past mistakes. Their previous stay in the Premier League lasted four years, and they intend to build the foundations to last longer in the top-flight this time around.
The betting…
The bookies have the Lads at 19/10 to win the game, while Leeds are 7/5 for the victory, and the draw is 21/10.
Head-to-head… at Sunderland
(All competitive competitions)
- Sunderland wins: 25
- Draws: 9
- Leeds Unitedwins: 16
- Sunderland goals: 77
- Leeds Unitedgoals: 58
Last time we met… at the Stadium of Light
Sunday 28th December 2026
Premier League
Sunderland 1-1 Leeds United
[Adingra 28’ – Calvert-Lewin 47’]
Sunderland: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin, Geertruida, Xhaka, Rigg (Mayenda), Le Fee, Adingra (Mundle), Brobbey (Isidor) Substitutes not used: Patterson, Jen. Jones, Hjelde, Neil, Har. Jones, Tutierov
Leeds United: Perri, Bogle, Gudmundsson, Rodon (Tanaka), Bijol, Struijk, Aaronson, Ampadu, Calvert-Lewin (Gnonto), Okafor (Nmecha), StachSubstitutes not used: Darlow, Justin, Bornauw, Gruev, Harrison, Piroe
Attendance: 46,675
Prediction…
Sunderland 1-1 Leeds United
Leeds are in-form and we’ll do well to get a point. But I just think it’s going to be one of those games where we come away even more confused on whether we’ve taken a step forward or not. Hope my gut feeling is impacted by a dodgy kebab the night before writing this.
