The Lads brought their 2026/2027 pre-season schedule to a close with a 2-1 victory over fellow Europa League side Stade Rennais on Saturday afternoon.
What were the main points for discussion on a day where a particular transfer slightly overshadowed the football on Wearside?
Sunderland sharpen up their chance creation
Sunderland looked at their creative best during this game, particularly in the second half where we scored two but could’ve scored six or seven.
Reinildo and Dan Ballard had headers saved, Wilson Isidor hit the post from an impossible
angle and Romaine Mundle hit the bar with a free kick, along with a host of other opportunities where the final touch or pass wasn’t quite perfect.
This was a particularly pleasing aspect to our game — as it has been throughout pre-season — for a side that, according to the “underlying numbers” we hear so much about, struggled to create last season, with the third lowest xG in the Premier League.
Whilst xG isn’t always the baseline for how creative a side is, the fact we’ve spent a large portion of pre-season looking to create and play on the front foot, similarly to how we played towards the end of last season, is very encouraging and will hopefully mean we score a lot of goals in all competitions in 2026/2027.
Chris Rigg: the real deal
Rigg is every inch a Premier League level footballer and is almost certainly ready to shine on the European stage in red and white.
Another brilliant performance off the bench and should we fail to bring in that right sided winger we’re looking for, Rigg would be a brilliant option to cover that position. Another fantastic cross, similar to the one that set up Trai Hume’s goal against Lens last week, almost lead to Reinildo getting on the scoresheet but for a great save from the Stade Rennais goalkeeper.
Riggy will likely start the season on the bench and being utilised as an impact sub, but if he can continue impacting games like he has during the previous two, there’s no reason why he can’t force his way into Régis Le Bris’ side.
Even if Sunderland do spend upwards of €30-40 million on a winger, Riggy could be in for one hell of a season and hopefully he gets the game time to showcase his ability.
Minutes in the tank for key players
Robin Roefs, Trai Hume, Dan Ballard, Luke O’Nien, Reinildo and Granit Xhaka all completed 90 minutes today, the most important of which were probably Ballard and Xhaka.
This was Ballard’s first ninety minutes of pre-season and after coming off looking a bit ropey against Lens last week, it was great to see him play the full game and he also put in a brilliant display, aside from one lazy bit of defending which led to Stade Rennais’ penalty.
Xhaka completing ninety minutes in just his second game back was also huge. Nobody can argue how important he is for Sunderland and we’ll need him all season, in all competitions if we’re to achieve our goals and more this year.
Enzo Le Fée and Brian Brobbey also got good run outs, which after an injury and a late return respectively was more good news for the Lads ahead of the Premier League season kicking off.
Chemsdine Talbi, Nilson Angulo and Noah Sadiki also all played around an hour following their late returns after the World Cup — although nobody doubts Sadiki’s ability to complete ninety minutes and nor would we be surprised if he played every minute in every competition without breaking a sweat this season.
A strong display against European opposition
We mentioned Sunderland’s chance creation but their overall game was superior to Stade Rennais on Saturday, and whilst the French side looked dangerous on the break in the first half and played some tidy football, Sunderland never looked in too much bother, and dealt well with the visitors.
In the second half however, Sunderland dominated for the majority, and the 2-1 scoreline flattered Stade Rennais, if anything.
The French side are fellow competitors in the Europa League this coming season, so the fact we’ve now looked comfortable against a Europa League and a Champions League side in the last two weeks is a huge encouragement for any fans who may have had any concerns about how we would perform in Europe.
Another positive in the display was the performance of Romaine Mundle.
With a new contract reportedly on the horizon, Mundle ran at his full back and consistently had the beating of him, creating some decent opportunities and crashing a free kick off the crossbar towards the end of the game. Encouraging signs for the winger as he’s seemingly sticking around this season.
A fond farewell to the ‘Big Man’
Last but certainly by no means least, yesterday’s friendly meant we got the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to a modern Sunderland great, playoff final goalscorer and promotion winner Eliezer Mayenda.
The Big Man got a fantastic reception when he entered the field in an extremely heartwarming moment. Fan footage on social media after the game showed his former teammates pushing him towards the Sunderland fans after the final whistle to enjoy a final applause from the Sunderland faithful.
Whilst we may meet again in the Europa League, it was great to see Mayenda get this moment in a friendly, where had he scored it wouldn’t have meant anything. Once again, good luck in Rennes, Big Man.
Now we move on to the real stuff as the Premier League kicks off next week with the Lads facing a trip to newly-promoted Ipswich Town.
Let’s hope we can carry our strong pre-season performances into this game and start the season off in style yet again. Haway the Lads!
