PREVIEW: Sunderland vs Burnley - Who leaves with 100% record in tact?

All you need to know ahead of Sunderland's visit from Burnley

Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham / IMAGO / NurPhoto

Two wins from two to start the 24/25 league campaign see's Sunderland in the automatic promotion places in the fledging Championship table. This week, they welcome Burnley, who have had an even better start to the Stadium of Light.

A 0-2 victory away to Cardiff on the opening day and an emphatic 4-0 victory over an in-from Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light, caps off the perfect start to life in the Championship for Regis Le Bris.

This Saturday Burnley, who've also enjoyed a perfect start, will be making the relatively short trip from the North West to the North East to face Sunderland.

So let's take a closer look into the Black Cat's opposition this weekend.

Sunderland team news

The big question for Sunderland will how to replace Jack Clarke in the line-up. The winger has played his last game for the Black Cats before heading to the Premier League with Ipswich Town.

Romaine Mundle appears to be the like-for-like replacement, but Abdoullah Ba and summer signing Ian Poveda may be options as well.

Eliezer Mayenda will lead the line again with new signing Wilson Isidor still awaiting international clearance. Alan Browne will return to the Sunderland squad after missing the win against Sheffield Wednesday, although he may struggle to displace Chris Rigg in midfield.

The Opposition

Burnley endured a tough return to the Premier League last season, finishing 19th and only winning five matches all season. Following relegation, Manager Vincent Kompany left his role to replace Thomas Tuchel at the German giants Bayern Munich.

Burnley have enjoyed a perfect start on their return to the Championship, an opening day 4-1 victory away to Luton Town, who also came straight back down with The Clarets last season, and a 5-0 win at home to Sunderland's match day one opponents Cardiff City.

The Gaffer

Kompany's successor at Turf Moor is Scott Parker,. The former Fulham, Bournemouth and Club Brugge Head Coach will be looking to maintain his 100% record of getting promoted in his first season having already done so with Fulham in 2020 and Bournemouth in 2022.

IMAGO / PA Images

After a disappointing spell with Brugge, Parker will be looking to recapture the previous success he has enjoyed in the Championship.

The Squad

Burnley still have most of the core squad that they achieved promotion with back to the Premier League just over a year ago. The likes of Jay Rodriguez, Connor Roberts and captain Josh Brownhill along with quite a few others all seem to be in Parker's plans as they try to get back to the top flight.

| IMAGO / PA Images

Burnley have also been quite active in the transfer market so far, having brought in ten players. Most recently defenders Bashir Humphreys on loan from Chelsea and Joe Worrall from Nottingham Forest, and both could make their Burnley debuts against Sunderland on Saturday.

Burnley have also lost a few of their key players too, with Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge both moving back to the Premier League to Tottenham and Fulham respectively. Scott Twine has made the permanent switch to Championship rivals Bristol City, and Anass Zaroury has moved to Lens.

The referee

Steve Martin will take charge, and he is generally not a very good omen for Sunderland. The Black Cats have win just three of the 14 matches he has taken charge while losing seven.

In fact, Martin was the referee for three Sunderland matches last season against Cardiff (H), Bristol City (A) and Birmingham (A), and Sunderland lost all of them.

Previous Meeting

Burnley and Sunderland last faced off against each other back in March 2023, where it ended in a goalless stalmate at Turf Moor.

Dan Neil and Patrick Roberts went close for Sunderland in the first half and Burnley's Ashley Barnes missed two great chances. Nathan Tella, Benson Manuel and Josh Brownhill also missed chances for the Clarets.

Amad Diallo hit the cross bar in the 69th minute and Abdoullah Ba thought he put Sunderland ahead late on, but it was ruled out for offside.

The Game in Numbers

0 - Sunderland are the only side in the Championship yet to concede a goal

110.5 - The amount of miles Burnley will be travelling to Sunderland this weekend

£1260 - The exact price of Scott Parker's jacket

Sunderland vs Burnley Stat Pack

As per the EFL Website:

Sunderland have lost two of their last four league meetings with Burnley (D2), having lost just one of their previous 18 against the Clarets (W10 D7).

Burnley won 4-2 in their last away league game against Sunderland, ending a 10-game winless run at the Black Cats (D3 L7). They’ve never won consecutive such visits before.

After winning their opening two league games of the season, Sunderland could win each of their first three matches to begin a league campaign for the first time since 1925-26 in the top-flight.

Burnley have lost just one of their last 28 Championship games (W21 D6), including wins in each of their last five such games by an aggregate score of 15-2

Sunderland predicted line-up

4-3-3: Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Alese, Cirkin; Jobe, Neil, Rigg; Roberts, Mayenda, Mundle