Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele says the team are now looking towards European qualification after outperforming expectations on their Premier League return, with Regis Le Bris’ side heading to Aston Villa knowing a late-season surge could move the Black Cats into serious contention for a top-six finish.
With six matches of the 2025-26 campaign left, Sunderland sit 10th on 46 points, only two behind sixth-placed Chelsea, and one further victory will officially secure their place in the 2026-27 Premier League, although their strong opening to the season has already kept any relegation fears distant.
A trip to Villa Park on Sunday offers another marker of Sunderland’s progress, as three points would deliver the club’s highest Premier League points total
since 2000-01, when they reached 57, while their current tally of 46 is already better than any return since the 47 points achieved in 2010-11.
Mukiele scored the decisive, deflected goal in a 1-0 victory over struggling Tottenham in Sunderland’s last league outing, and the defender insists the squad view the remaining fixtures as a chance to chase new goals rather than relax after meeting their initial targets for survival and consolidation.
Mukiele stressed that standards inside the dressing room remain high, saying: "We know we have six games left and we know we have to try and reach something different because we know our target at the beginning of the season is done now. With this team and this quality that we have, we can reach something else. We will fight for this until the end of the season. "
The influence of Granit Xhaka has been central to Sunderland’s stability, with the midfielder bringing experience from Bayer Leverkusen and previous Premier League seasons, complementing a youthful squad that has relied on energy and pressing to stay competitive through a long campaign.
Mukiele highlighted Xhaka’s impact on and off the pitch, explaining: "We work hard and we have a young team with a lot of energy but also players like Granit who have experience of the Premier League. Even if it’s my first season here, with what Granit shows us in training or a game or if we lose or win, it’s a positive what he brings to us. "
Straight to it pic.twitter.com/IWmUgrwRtTSunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) April 16, 2026
Aston Villa vs Sunderland form guide, history and Opta prediction
Aston Villa approach the Aston Villa vs Sunderland clash sitting fourth, three points ahead of Liverpool in the race for the final Champions League position, and Unai Emery’s team are also preparing for a Europa League semi-final with Nottingham Forest after a 4-0 home win over Bologna completed a 7-1 aggregate success.
Under Emery, Villa have not been beaten in the Premier League by a newly promoted side, recording 14 wins and five draws against such opponents, and their last defeat in that category came against Fulham in October 2022, which proved Steven Gerrard’s final league game in charge.
Villa closed 2025 with 12 wins from 14 Premier League matches, losing only twice in that stretch, yet results have dipped across 2026, with 16 points from 13 league games, four wins, four draws and five defeats, a run that leaves them 14th in this calendar year’s form table.
Sunderland, by contrast, have claimed back-to-back wins and now target three straight Premier League victories for the first time since a four-match sequence in April and May 2014, though this weekend also marks their 148th top-flight fixture since that previous streak.
Aston Villa vs Sunderland key players and scoring trends
Aston Villa captain John McGinn has been directly involved in five goals across his last six Premier League home appearances, scoring three and assisting two, and Villa’s win ratio is 58% when McGinn starts, 14 victories from 24 games, compared with only 25%, two wins from eight, when he is not in the starting XI.
Sunderland’s scoring numbers highlight their diverse squad profile, as players from 11 different nationalities have found the net in the Premier League this season, a figure surpassed only by Wolves’ 12, yet the Black Cats remain the only club without an English scorer, despite Chris Rigg leading their English contingent with nine attempts on goal.
The Opta supercomputer favours Villa in the Aston Villa vs Sunderland meeting, particularly given Villa’s six-match unbeaten home league run against Sunderland, with two victories and four draws, and the wider record shows Villa have lost only once in 13 league games against the Black Cats, six wins and six draws, that defeat being a 3-1 reverse at the Stadium of Light in January 2016.
This will be Sunderland’s first appearance at Villa Park since a 2-1 Championship loss in November 2017, and their first Premier League visit since a 2-2 draw in August 2015, while the Opta model gives Villa a 63.6% chance of victory, compared with 17% for Sunderland and 19.4% for a draw.
The Aston Villa vs Sunderland contest therefore places an ambitious Sunderland side, already secure and chasing European dreams, against a Villa team balancing European commitments with a push to lock down Champions League football, with historical trends and predictive data pointing towards a home win but recent form suggesting a competitive meeting between two confident squads.
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