Sunderland v Arsenal: Premier League – live
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Arsenal have had a couple of decent chances but Sunderland have been more than competitive. Brian Brobbey has been pretty immense holding the ball up against Gabriel and Ezri Konsa.
The half ends with Xhaka intervening with his heel as Havertz tries to head in Saka’s header across goal. The referee blows for half-time before Arsenal can take the corner.
45 min: There’s one added minute. Timber is stripped and ready because White has tweaked something. Arteta will wait for the break.
44 min: Havertz stretches to get his head to the Sunderland corner and it’s behind for another one. Raya gets a fist to the next one before Le Fee drags a low shot wide of the near post. Sunderland have had a good few minutes.
42 min: Angulo robs White of the ball in the Arsenal half and sets off towards the box. After a stepover and a ball roll, the winger throws himself to the floor as White steps across him. Meunier’s shot is blocked out for a corner.
40 min: The loudest cheer of the night comes as Arteta is booked for leaving his technical area too far and too often. He reacts with a tickbox gesture towards the retreating fourth official, who had clearly snitched.
38 min: Konsa and Raya appeal for fouls as Xhaka swings the ball in. One of them is given and it’s a free-kick to Arsenal in their own box.
36 min: Calafiori gives the referee an earful after Brobbey bumps him over at the resulting corner. VAR have a look for a moment or two but dismiss the claims. Sunderland then come forward as Mukiele drives into space. His low shot is blocked by Gabriel’s outstretched legs. Sunderland win a free-kick in a crossing position on the right …
34 min: Great save from Roefs! Odegaard clips a cross into the box from the left. Havertz brings it down with his chest, swivels and shoots with his back to goal. Roefs sticks a hand out to tip the ball over the bar.
32 min: Chance for Arsenal! Tzolis slides a pass through for Odegaard on the left of the penalty area. His cut-back finds Havertz but the German scoops the ball over the bar. He’s converted harder chances this season.
30 min: The danger passes for Sunderland. Odegaard’s inswinging free-kick is met by Konsa at the near post, the ball loops up in the air and then the assistant’s flag goes up. Still no goals from set pieces for Arsenal this season – something to work on.
28 min: Saka wins a free-kick down near the corner as a desperate Reinildo tugs on his shirt after a mix-up on the ball with Angulo. It’s a booking as well.
26 min: Arsenal counter quickly for the first time but Ballard does well when isolated against Havertz, just poking the ball out of play. Angulo catches Odegaard in the corner and the fourth official catches Arteta’s glare.
24 min: Gabriel has a sighter from about 25 yards, shooting low and hard just past the far post. Roefs was scrambling for a moment but Sunderland will probably take that.
22 min: Arsenal try to tease Sunderland out of shape but the hosts won’t play ball. Brobbey is the furthest man forward by far as Arsenal move the ball around on the edge of the Sunderland box. Lewis-Skelly pings a pass out of play.
20 min: Brobbey again holds off an Arsenal centre-back on halfway, Konsa this time, to bring Sunderland up the pitch. He and Havertz are certainly two very different centre-forwards – not sure who I’d rather have.
18 min: Rice drops between the two Arsenal centre-backs to pick up the ball. Xhaka leaves one on Odegaard on halfway that referee John Brooks will just take note of for now.
16 min: Chance for Sunderland! Brobbey holds off Gabriel brilliantly on halfway before Konsa upends Le Fée near the touchline. The big lads are forward and Xhaka whips a superb bouncing ball across goal. Ballard meets it at the back post but can’t guide it on target.
14 min: Chance for Arsenal! Saka times his run to perfection to meet Rice’s clipped pass into the box but can only flick the ball straight at Roefs as he approaches the six-yard box.
12 min: Sunderland force Arsenal back down their right as Meunier blocks a Calafiori clearance out for a goal-kick in the corner. Arsenal are yet to build any sort of momentum.
10 min: Xhaka gets on the ball for the first time in midfield and spreads it to Mukiele on the right. The defender fizzes a low ball into the area that White cuts out before it reaches Angulo. A Xhaka free-kick from deep is then flicked on into the hands of Raya.
8 min: Odegaard finds Calafiori in space on the edge of the box but the Italian’s right-footed shot is blocked before it gets very far. Brobbey wins presumably the first of many free-kicks to help his team up the pitch.
6 min: Sunderland get the crowd up with a couple of physical challenges on halfway that do little to intimidate this Arsenal side. Birthday boy Meunier (35 today) deals with Tzolis’s first foray down the left.
4 min: Jeers as the first Arsenal attack ends with Lewis-Skelly clipping the ball out for a goal-kick from the edge of the box. I preferred this Arsenal yellow from Mesut Özil’s debut in 2013 …
2 min: Arsenal are in lemon-y yellow, which is a bit bright against the Stadium of Light pitch under the lights. Brobbey barges Konsa over at the first opportunity.
After a warm embrace between former teammates and now captains Xhaka and Odegaard, Myles Lewis-Skelly gets us under way. Can Arsenal keep up their perfect winning record this season?
The match report from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is in …
The players are in the tunnel at the Stadium of Light and kick-off is minutes’ away.
Justin emails in with the subject of ‘Stadium of Darkness’ …
So will Mikel Arteta sneak into the away dressing room tonight and take out all the light bulbs? Just to motivate his champions by having them stumble around in the dark as they change in the Stadium of Light? Expect to see some odd numbers on the shirts of some Arsenal players when they take the field.
You really cannot knock something slightly ridiculous when it seems to be working, which is annoying.
Sunderland parade new striker Juan Angulo, signed from Independiente del Valle last week, before kick-off at the Stadium of Light. That one had passed me by – and I’ve spent all summer writing down hundreds of transfers for this …
Here is my early prediction for very competitive EPL season. Teams will struggle to reach 70 points. The team getting 75 will surely be champions. Whether Arsenal get to ninety plus or they just about scrap to 70-75 remains to be seen.
Well, I’d like to point out that Hull are on course for 76 points. Get the parade bus ready.
Full time: Tottenham 0-0 Everton. Some oddly cheery Spurs fans hold up a sign that says: ‘Please score a goal’. Not today. Other supporters are more glum.
This is how the Premier League table looks ahead of kick-off at Sunderland …
This hasn’t changed in the last two hours but why not check out the race for the golden boot as well …
Mikel Arteta revealed yesterday that he trains his Arsenal players to expect things to go wrong after their flight to Naples was delayed by five hours on Tuesday.
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 as soon as the players have to do something else.
Just delay the meals, delay the transport, take a different route. We have done many things: make the dressing room hotter, more difficult, more challenging, less [massage] beds. Those kind of things. Because we are going to have to adapt to different contexts and we will try to anticipate it and create the best possible conditions. But when there is that element of stress or surprise on matchday, it’s important [to be prepared].
The Premier League is sponsoring the Together against Suicide campaign this weekend. Barney Ronay has penned a column that, well, you simply must read.
The fact is, it’s hard to be a man at any age. Or at least, it’s hard in a way that is distinct from other forms of hardness. And yes this statement might fail to draw an overwhelming wave of sympathy, but this is part of the problem. Pain comes for everyone. There’s no hierarchy of suffering. And male pain, male alienation is often carried around like a dead weight for exactly this reason.
“They are the best team in Europe,” said Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris yesterday, not of their midweek opponents Hull but of Arsenal. He is looking forward to today’s test ahead of the start of Sunderland’s Europa League campaign next week.
They are the best team in Europe at the minute and they have good momentum as well. We can’t get complacent otherwise it is finished very quickly. If you think that you are already a European team, it’s going to be a big problem.
They are flying right now and they have many threats on the pitch but we have a good team as well. It is a good challenge and we need these challenges to get better.
Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Danso, Reinildo; Sadiki, Xhaka; Meunier, Le Fée, N Angulo; Brobbey
Subs: Ellborg, Hume, O’Nien, Alderete, Methalie, Talbi, Rigg, Fofana, Isidor
Regis Le Bris makes no changes from the 1-1 draw with Brentford. Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka captains Sunderland as usual. Former Spurs defender Kevin Danso is in the centre of defence while new signing Malick Fofana is on the bench.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Ødegaard, Lewis-Skelly, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapié, Eze, Timber, Gyökeres, Madueke, Merino, Zubimendi, Guimarães
Mikel Arteta also keeps the same XI from the win against Chelsea. Former Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimarães is spared the wrath of the Stadium of Light to start with – he’s on the bench. Max Dowman is absent after playing for Arsenal’s under-21s in their defeat to Chelsea this afternoon.
It is goalless between Tottenham and Everton a few minutes into the second half. Thierno Barry has just threatened an opener.
James Wallace has updates on that one here …
Today’s Premier League scores and reports
Yes, there is more Premier League action today. Arsenal are looking to maintain their 100% start to the season as champions as they take on Sunderland at a ground where they were held to a 2-2 draw last season. Mikel Arteta’s side were in Italy in midweek, escaping from Naples with a 1-0 win, while their hosts on Wearside this evening also won 1-0 at home to Hull in the Carabao Cup.
The Stadium of Light is entering a new era over the next few days as Sunderland host European football for the first time in 53 years – AZ Alkmaar visit here next Wednesday in the Europa League. This evening, Arsenal come up against the familiar face of Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka, who was of course suspended the last time they won here in October 2016.
Stay tuned to hear how Arteta has been hardening his Arsenal players up for uncomfortable occasions like this, including making the dressing room hotter and delaying the team meals. I have been preparing myself in similar fashion, foregoing dinner to keep me sharp for minute-by-minute coverage. Feel free to get in touch via email as the game progresses. Kick-off is 8pm BST.