Saturday 24th January 2026
West Ham United v Sunderland – Premier League
London Stadium Kick-Off: 12:30
Tickets & Match Coverage
Tickets: Tickets are sold out.
TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available on TNT Sports.
Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)
Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.sbnation.com!
The build-up…
It really didn’t feel like our win last weekend was our first since we beat the visitors back in mid-December. We went five without
a win after that, but four were well-earned draws, and the other was well… erm… Brentford – but to be fair, had that Panenka found the net, even that could have been a different conversation.
Anyway, the point is that even during runs where we are finding it difficult to take maximum points, we’re still happy. Performances are consistently good, and the ridiculous nature of the Premier League this season means that we’re three points off a Champions League place even though we’ve won two in the last nine.
Much has been said of how we’re in that position, not least in a BBC report about how we’re overachieving according to the xG data. But even though only Forest and Wolves have scored fewer goals than us, only Arsenal and Pep’s Citeh have conceded fewer, which surely just means we’re more clinical in the moments that matter, right?
Today’s game brings back memories of the opening day of the season when Premier League football returned to the Stadium of Light back in August. On that day, we beat West Ham United 3-0, but not many would have predicted we’d be where we are beyond the halfway point, and only the most pessimistic Hammers fan would have thought they’d be four points from safety at this stage.
This is West Ham’s fourteenth consecutive season in the top flight – their longest run since the 1960’s and 70’s – but they’ve got a fight on their hands to take it to a fifteenth. A run of ten games without a win put them in trouble and has not only put manager Nuno Espirito Santo under pressure, but also the owners. Today might be a day of protests from the home crowd, but a much-needed win over Spurs last weekend might dilute any planned action.
The betting…
The bookies have the Lads at 15/8 to win the game, while West Ham are priced at 7/5, and the draw is 11/5.
Head to head… at West Ham
(All competitions)
- Sunderland wins: 10
- Draws: 13
- West Ham United wins: 22
- Sunderland goals: 51
- West Ham United goals: 83
Last time we met… at West Ham
Saturday 22nd October 2016
Premier League
London Stadium
West Ham United 1-0 Sunderland
[Reid 90’]
Sunderland: Pickford, Manquillo, Kone, O’Shea, van Aanholt, Rodwell, Ndong, Watmore (Gooch), Pienaar (McNair), Khazri (Jones), Defoe Substitutes not used: Mika, Djilobodji, Honeyman, Anichebe
West Ham United: Adrian, Antonio (Feghouli), Fernandes, Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna, Lanzini (Fletcher), Noble, Zaza (Calleri), Obiang, Payet Substitutes not used: Spiegal, Oxford, Collins, Nordveit
Attendance: 56,985
Prediction…
West Ham United 1-1 Sunderland
After last weekends last minute win over Spurs, we’ve got to expect that their tails will be up and any planned protests might be diluted – so I’m going for a tough draw.
