
Andy Thompson says…
Aside from Newcastle at home and away, I’ll pick a couple of other fixtures that I’m looking forward to this season.
As a fan based in London, 2025/2026 provides me with ample opportunities to see the Lads on their travels in the capital, and the one I’m most excited for is Spurs away.
I regularly drive on the North Circular and see their stadium as I drive past. It looks very impressive from afar; I’ve heard very good things about the facilities and matchday experience from friends who’ve been, and watching
the Lads play there has been on my wish list since the stadium opened.
Like many others, the game I’m looking forward to the most at home is our first: West Ham at home.
The Hammers had their struggles last year and it would be likely that they may do again this upcoming campaign. This game gives us a real opportunity to set the tone for the rest of our season and so the importance of this fixture is quite significant.
If we want to stay up, we’ll need the Stadium of Light to be a fortress and this game can allow us to start on a positive note.
The prospect of a full house with full backing for our first game back in the Premier League? I can’t wait!
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Anthony Gair says…
To state the obvious, Newcastle at home is obviously the most anticipated Sunderland match this season. However, I’m just looking forward to the first five games of the season.
There’s no way West Ham will be looking forward to playing us at the Stadium of Light — irrespective of any signings they make before the beginning of the season — and although I’m not saying we’re definitely going to win our first Premier League game since the full transformation of our wonderful club, I think we stand a really good chance.
I can’t wait to see how the table looks after the first five games, and I think we’re all going to be pleasantly surprised.
This isn’t delusion — it’s more the fact that we’ve taken the stance that we must improve, and we’ve made the signings early. It’s what we’ve been crying out for forever: sign people, let them train, and begin the season on a roll.
Even if we lose the first five games of the season, I have absolutely no doubt that this is the right way to do things, and that we’ll still be happy with the performances shown.
Jack Howe-Gingell says…
For the home game, I can’t get past the first fixture of the season against West Ham.
I’m just excited for us to be back in the big time and I can’t wait to see us giving it large. All the Premier League branding, extra cameras, a full house…it’ll be magic.
Elsewhere, our first ‘big’ game in November against Arsenal will feel special. To be mixing it again with the world’s best is a privilege and I’m looking forward to seeing how we adapt.
From an away perspective, I’m in as early as our second game.
I really want us to put the ghosts to bed after those two penalty misses at Burnley last season, and a win there will at least give us an early result against those wanting to beat the drop!
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John Wilson says…
I must start by saying that I don’t actually look forward to the derby games! They’re so stressful and tense, and I don’t actually enjoy them.
In the past, even when we’ve been two or three goals up with ten minutes to go, I still couldn’t relax until the final whistle, but as to which home game I’m looking forward to, I can’t get past West Ham at the moment, and I’m so excited about the whole day.
Hotel booked, new shirts bought, and I simply can’t wait to walk over The Keel Crossing to see a packed Stadium of Light and to watch and get acquainted with all the new signings.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Noah Sadiki, for one, and as I’ve banged on about several times before, to be with my stepson for his first Premier League game at home will be a joy.
If I take a step back and view the whole season, I’m eager to see all the so called ‘big boys’ — but probably Liverpool the most, so let’s see how we compete with the best!
Away trips are a slight bugbear for me, as I’m one of the many who can’t get their feet on the points ladder— not that I’m complaining about the system.
If I could choose an away ground I’d love to see the Lads play at, it would probably be Everton. I’d like to see their new stadium after visiting Goodison Park a lifetime ago.
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Michael Dunne says…
I don’t have a particular favourite home game, and whilst the Newcastle fixture is one everyone will be looking forward to, I’m just excited to see some of the world’s best players at the Stadium of Light on a regular basis.
For an atmosphere, I reckon the first home game against West Ham is going to be enjoyable and raucous no matter what the result, and the build up and excitement towards it will be enjoyable.
Some new stadiums are on the list this season. I’m looking forward to a trip to Tottenham’s stadium, and Fulham and Crystal Palace will also be good days out.
My in-laws are all Manchester United fans so the October trip to Old Trafford has already been booked. It’ll be a bit of fun, and given how poor they were last season, I wouldn’t even put it past us to pick up a result there!
Nic Wiseman says..
I always love Fulham away and it’s one of the fixtures I’ve missed the most since our sojourn away from the Premier League.
It’s a convivial event.
Myself and my mates usually convene in the Prince of Wales pub near East Putney tube. I used to live across the road from the pub and have seen it evolve from a ‘spit and sawdust’ boozer to a swanky gastro pub. But it still has that dodgy charm for us; we enjoy a meetup there and the Fulham game affords us that.
Added to that is the scenic location of the ground and affable nature of the home fans. And, apart from ours, they had my favourite-titled fanzine — There’s Only One F In Fulham (say it quickly!)
I’m also looking forward to hosting Liverpool and Everton because I’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Liverpool is a proper city, with fans who know about their football. I’m also looking forward to visiting new grounds like Everton, Tottenham and Brentford.
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Tom Albrighton says…
Everyone’s going to say Newcastle so I’ll swerve the predictable and look elsewhere.
The Premier League has been all change since we last graced it with our presence, and with that comes new stadia to attend.
Therefore, the away games I’m looking forward to most will be at the newer grounds (well, the ones I have a chance of getting to, anyway), so Spurs and Everton away immediately spring to mind.
For home games, it’s a bit cliche but pretty much all of them. It’s been such a long time away and it feels like an even longer time coming (not withstanding that this flies in the face of the linear nature of time) that I simply just want to enjoy being back.
The season really could go either way and if it goes severely west, it may be a less-than-pleasant experience and would thereby make this statement age like milk, but that’s the fun of the fair.
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