Chelsea head to the Stadium of Light on Sunday, November 8, 2026, looking to build on their impressive victory over Manchester United and strengthen their position near the top of the Premier League table.

The Blues, currently fourth, will face a Sunderland side struggling for form as the campaign approaches its first international break in November. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:00 pm EAT.

Chelsea have not played at this time on a Sunday since their 4-3 defeat of Brighton & Hove Albion. The unusual scheduling is linked to Sunderland’s involvement in the UEFA Europa League during the week.

Sunderland’s recent league form has been a major concern. The Black Cats have suffered five defeats in their last six Premier League matches and have not recorded a league victory since August.

They enter the weekend at the foot of the table, two points from safety and with the second-worst goal difference in the division.

Their midweek Europa League fixture also saw head coach Regis Le Bris make six changes to the starting XI that had lost 3-1 to fellow relegation candidates Coventry City the previous weekend. Sunderland subsequently suffered a 2-0 home defeat against Dinamo Zagreb.

Chelsea, in contrast, have had the benefit of a full week without a midweek fixture. Xabi Alonso’s men used the extra time to prepare for the trip north following their 2-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

A victory at Sunderland would lift Chelsea into third place if Brighton fail to beat Brentford.

Chelsea team news

Chelsea could welcome back Moises Caicedo and Emiliano Martinez, although Alonso said their involvement would be determined after the team’s final training session.

Jorrel Hato, Maxence Lacroix and Joao Pedro are expected to remain sidelined until after the forthcoming international break.

Speaking about Martinez, Alonso said:

‘On Saturday we have our last training session before Sunday and we will decide,’ Alonso replied when asked about Martinez. ‘But he is training well. It is very good that Emi has made a great effort to be back and is ahead of the plan to be part of the team. So we will check and then on Sunday we will take the final decision.

‘Moi had little problems after the last game, so we expect to check on Saturday on different situations and he is one of them.’

Chelsea’s record at Sunderland

Although Sunderland have inflicted some painful cup defeats on Chelsea over the years, the Blues have generally enjoyed a respectable record in league matches on Wearside.

Chelsea have won 34 per cent of their 61 league visits to the area, only slightly below their 38 per cent winning record at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues also enjoyed several notable victories at Roker Park before Sunderland moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997.

One memorable success came when Mickey Thomas converted from the penalty spot shortly after half-time before Kerry Dixon added a late second. It was Chelsea’s first victory at Roker Park by a margin of at least two goals and remains their joint-biggest win away to Sunderland.

Chelsea subsequently went through a particularly strong period against the Black Cats, suffering just one top-flight defeat between 2002 and 2013. Interestingly, that defeat came at Stamford Bridge.

During that period, Chelsea recorded nine consecutive victories at the Stadium of Light, including two high-scoring encounters.

One of those came on the final day of the 2008/09 campaign. After a goalless first half, Nicolas Anelka opened the scoring with a long-range effort early after the restart, a goal that helped him secure the Premier League Golden Boot.

Kieran Richardson then capitalised on an error by Petr Cech to equalise before Salomon Kalou restored Chelsea’s advantage. Ashley Cole added another goal to make it 3-1.

Richardson scored again in the closing stages to give Sunderland hope, but Chelsea held on. News that Newcastle United had lost to Aston Villa confirmed that the Magpies, rather than Sunderland, would be relegated.

Chelsea produced another impressive performance at Sunderland in February 2011.

Phil Bardsley put the hosts ahead with an individual effort, but Frank Lampard levelled from the penalty spot after Ahmed Elmohamady fouled Ashley Cole.

Anelka then created an opportunity for Kalou, who put Chelsea in front. Richardson later equalised with a free-kick that went through the Chelsea defensive wall.

The visitors continued to dominate after the break, with John Terry reacting quickest after Craig Gordon parried Lampard’s powerful attempt. Anelka completed the scoring as Chelsea secured a 4-2 victory.

Chelsea’s most recent league win at Sunderland came in December 2016 during Antonio Conte’s reign.

The Blues were top of the table going into the Christmas period, with Cesc Fabregas scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory.

Key statistics

Cole Palmer comes into the match after another successful penalty against Manchester United. The Chelsea forward has now converted 19 of his 21 Premier League penalties for the club. Only Frank Lampard has scored more, converting 41 of his 48 attempts.

Romeo Lavia was another standout performer against Manchester United. He recovered possession 14 times, the highest figure recorded by a Chelsea player in a Premier League match since Lewis Hall also registered 14 against Fulham in January 2023.

Chelsea have also been outperforming their expected-goals numbers. They have scored 19 league goals from an expected-goals figure of 13.34, an overperformance of 5.56, which ranks second-best in the division.

Sunderland, meanwhile, have gone in the opposite direction. Their 13.21 expected goals have produced only seven actual goals, leaving them 6.21 below their expected total and making them the second-worst underperformers in the league.

Chelsea have won 54.7 per cent of their ground duels this season, the best figure in the Premier League.

The Blues have also scored six league goals from set pieces, with only Brighton having a better record after registering seven.

Chelsea have produced 53 shots on target, the highest total in the division, although they have also allowed opponents to register 50 shots on target against them.

Sunderland’s passing accuracy of 78.8 per cent is among the lowest in the Premier League, with only five teams recording a poorer completion rate.

Another statistic will provide little encouragement for the hosts: Sunderland have not won a home top-flight match on November 8 since 1932, when they defeated Grimsby Town 3-2.

Chelsea also have an unusual piece of history connected to this fixture. A year before that 2-0 defeat at Roker Park, the Blues selected their oldest-ever starting XI, with an average age of 31 years and 336 days.

Chelsea will therefore arrive on Wearside with momentum, a strong historical record and the possibility of climbing into the top three, while Sunderland face the pressure of trying to halt a worrying run of league results.