Arsenal Aim for Fourth Straight Win Against Sunderland
Arsenal return to the Stadium of Light tonight chasing a fourth straight win and a reminder of why they are champions. Sunderland, under the lights and underdogs in name only, stand in their way.
Mikel Arteta’s side have opened their Premier League title defence with three victories from three, the most recent a breathless 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. That night in north London had everything: Morgan Rogers scoring against the club who pushed hardest to sign him in the summer, Kai Havertz replying against his former team, and Martin Odegaard settling it with a ruthless winner.
Now comes a different kind of test. Cold, noisy, awkward. Sunderland away.
Revenge on their minds
Arsenal know exactly how tricky this fixture can be. Last November, they were dragged into a wild 2-2 draw here. Leandro Trossard thought he had pinched it with a late strike, only for Brian Brobbey to crash home a dramatic equaliser deep into stoppage time. Two points gone, and a sharp reminder of what the champions are up against on nights like this.
Arteta will not have forgotten. Neither will his players.
Sunderland, under Regis Le Bris, have started the new season in fits and bursts. One win, one draw, one defeat. They were beaten at Ipswich, responded with a tight 1-0 victory over Fulham, then shared the points with Brentford. Enough to show they can bite, not enough to convince anyone they can live with Arsenal over 90 minutes. That’s the challenge.
Arteta’s bigger picture: “Best club in the world”
Beyond the immediate hunt for three points, Arteta has been clear about his ambition. He wants Arsenal to become the “best club in the world”.
His current contract runs out at the end of the season, but there has never been real doubt that fresh terms will be agreed. Arteta has been calm on the subject, repeatedly insisting there is no rush and hinting last month that a new deal is only a matter of time.
The message is obvious: he is building something he has no intention of walking away from. Nights like Sunderland, awkward and unforgiving, are part of that journey.
Injury calls and defensive tweaks
Team selection again turns on Arsenal’s defence. Two absentees last time out came from the back line, and Arteta still has decisions to make.
Jurrien Timber, troubled by a groin issue since last season, is edging closer. “Let’s see, we have another training session,” Arteta said. The defender has been back in full training for a few days and, by his manager’s account, “looks in good shape”. Whether that translates into minutes tonight remains to be seen.
Cristhian Mosquera is a bigger doubt. A muscle problem picked up in the win over Aston Villa has kept him out of the last two games. Arteta’s verdict on the Spaniard was cautiously optimistic: “Let’s see if he can get this game or the next one. It will be around that time, I think.”
One change is widely expected. Riccardo Calafiori is set to return at left-back in place of Piero Hincapie, restoring the balance Arteta prefers in that area. Ben White, who went off late in the gritty 1-0 win in Naples, is available and should start.
Timber has featured just once since mid-March – a brief cameo off the bench in the Champions League final in May – but his recovery has accelerated. He even travelled with the squad to Italy in midweek, though he did not make the matchday 20. Tonight might come too soon for a major role, but his shadow is starting to loom over the back line again.
Guimaraes braced for hostile return
The midfield story belongs to Bruno Guimaraes. Arsenal’s £75million summer signing from Newcastle is in line for his first Premier League start for the club.
His early weeks in north London have been stop-start, minor injury niggles slowing his integration. That may change on Wearside. If Arteta turns to him from the off, Guimaraes will walk into a wall of noise and hostility at the Stadium of Light, given his Newcastle past.
It will not influence the manager’s thinking. Arteta trusts his players to handle this kind of atmosphere. Guimaraes, once captain at St James’ Park, has lived through worse.
Christos Tzolis and Havertz are also expected to return to the starting XI after only featuring from the bench in Naples, where Arsenal ground out that 1-0 win in the league phase. It was not pretty, but it was the sort of performance that wins titles in May.
Sunderland’s selection problems
Le Bris does not have the same luxury of choice. Sunderland are without Romaine Mundle and Habib Diarra.
Mundle’s long-term knee injury has cut short what looked like a promising breakthrough after an eye-catching pre-season. Diarra, meanwhile, is sidelined by a hamstring issue, stripping the Black Cats of drive and energy in midfield.
Even so, this stadium has never needed a perfect squad list to cause trouble for visiting giants.
Prediction: champions to edge it
Everything about this fixture suggests a scrap. Sunderland at home, under the lights, with the memory of last season’s late equaliser still fresh. Arsenal, though, look ominously sharp.
Three wins from three. Character shown against Chelsea. Resilience in Naples. A manager who talks about becoming the best in the world and a squad starting to play like it believes him.
Standard Sport’s call is narrow but clear: Arsenal to win, 2-1.
If they do, the champions leave Wearside with maximum points from four and another question for the rest of the league: who is going to stop them?
