Sunderland vs Brighton LIVE!

· Sky-PL

Good afternoon everyone from Wearside and welcome to our coverage of this afternoon's eagerly anticipated clash between Sunderland and high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion from the Stadium of Light as the Premier League returns after a three-week international break.

Hello from Wearside!

Good afternoon everyone from Wearside and welcome to our coverage of this afternoon's eagerly anticipated clash between Sunderland and high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion from the Stadium of Light as the Premier League returns after a three-week international break.

This encounter in the northeast has all the ingredients to be a classic, with the visitors travelling north on the back of a hugely impressive 3-0 dismantling of champions Arsenal at the Amex last time out.

That stunning victory, which could have been by more goals, saw Fabian Hurzeler's side riding high in third place in the standings, only five points behind leaders Man City.

As for Sunderland, they lost an eight-goal thriller at the Etihad, a defeat that leaves Regis Le Bris's team languishing down in 14th place after the opening five matches and in need of a win this afternoon.

The visitors will be strongly fancied for the three points this afternoon after that display against the Gunners, but winning on Wearside is never easy, making this an intriguing contest.

Either way, top-flight football is back folks, so stick around as we build up to kick-off at the Stadium of Light, with that all-important team news heading your way at 1.45pm...

How the top of the table looks

Brighton could go second in the table with a win today, depending on what happens in Arsenal's game with Leeds:

Jones Knows' Prediction

The betting markets love Brighton, perhaps too much at times.

That could be the case here where the injury news surrounding Sunderland does have a hint of overreaction to it when assessing the price on a home win at 2/1 with Sky Bet.

Yes, Brian Brobbey and Dan Ballard are big players for the Black Cats but this team is built more on the system and functionality rather than any one individual. Sunderland aren't some hopelessly open newly-promoted side waiting to be demolished. Their underlying profile is very strong at the Stadium of Light. Since promotion, they have lost just five times in 24 home matches and have conceded less than a goal per game in that sample size.

To get them on the draw no bet line at 11/10 with Sky Bet makes lots of sense to back.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1

Last time out

Meanwhile, Sunderland came out the wrong side of an eight-goal thriller with Premier League leaders Man City at the Etihad:

Last time out

It has been three long weeks without any Premier League football, so to remind you, here is how Brighton dismantled the champions before the international break:

Read the original

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