Sunday 22nd February 2026
Sunderland v Fulham – Premier League
Stadium of Light Kick-Off: 14:00
Tickets & Match Coverage
Tickets: Tickets are sold out.
TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via Sky 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…
We’re doing something today that we haven’t faced so far this season. We have talked about how well Sunderland have bounced back
from defeats – having bounced back from the first six league defeats with a victory – but today is the first time we are responding to successive losses in the Premier League this season, as well as aiming to bounce back quickly on our home patch after a home defeat.
The thing is, with this, is that it doesn’t really feel like it.
The performances against Arsenal and Liverpool softened the blow of losing and, in some ways, allowed you to forget we were on the wrong end of the result. However, it does mean that on paper we’ve lost four of the last six games in the league, and today is the first in a sequence of games that we can potentially target to collect some points – on paper at least.
Rumours are circulating at the time of writing that we could be back up to full strength, including Granit Xhaka, so I imagine all eyes will be looking at the club’s socials for a potential picture of a certain shirt in the dressing room this morning if it hasn’t already been announced.
But, regardless of Xhaka being fit or not, Le Bris is likely to ring the changes after making six when naming his side at Oxford. With a bit of luck, it provided a few players a chance to recover from a knock or two and rest up for a weekend while we marched on the cup.
Last time we beat Fulham at the Stadium of Light, we had them to thank for a much-needed win under Chris Coleman to halt us breaking all sorts of records for the wrong reasons – does it really feel just over eight years since we were in that place?
Fulham feels like one big long drama this season – and it feels like the rest of the football world isn’t really bothered. They’re just not really a club who generate the headlines – unless it’s got something to do with a former owner, but I’m not getting into that.
They’re probably the biggest club still yet to win a major trophy – answers on a postcard if you think there’s one bigger – but it’s very easy to forget, because it’s a club you keep forgetting about. Even when their pretty successful manager threatens to leave for months on end, it still struggles to make the back pages.
Marco Silva returned Fulham to the Premier League at the first time of asking and has since finished between 10th and 13th in the three seasons in the top flight, while reaching the FA Cup quarter-final twice and the semi-final of the League Cup. So, in summary, he’s done a good job, and his contract is up at the end of this season.
There are reports that he has a hefty release clause, which might have scared off any potential club looking to take him from Fulham, so it’s a debate within the Fulham fan base if Silva is trying to get Fulham to be more ambitious or if he’s looking out for his own interests – time will tell.
Anyway, ahead of the game today, Fulham have lost four out of the last six, and specifically looking at their away form, they’ve lost eight out of thirteen so far and won just three – and those three were against West Ham, Burnley, and Spurs, who are all in the bottom four in terms of their home form.
In addition to that, if you have managed to listen to our opposition preview podcast, which dropped on Saturday, Russ Goldman from The Cottage Talk podcast told us they are pretty crap at defending set pieces and have conceded quite a few late goals – food for thought.
The betting…
The bookies have the Lads at 13/8 to win the game, while Fulham are also priced at 13/8, and the draw is 11/5.
Head to head… at Sunderland
(All competitions)
- Sunderland wins: 13
- Draws: 13
- Fulham wins: 8
- Sunderland goals: 45
- Fulham goals: 39
Last time we met… at the Stadium of Light
Wednesday 8th February 2023
FA Cup Fourth Round – Replay
Sunderland 2-3 Fulham
[Clarke 77’, Bennette 90’ – Wilson 8’, Pereira 59’, Kurzawa 82’]
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Ballard, Batth, Alese, Neil (O’Nien), Michut (Ekwah), Roberts (Pritchard), Diallo (Bennette), Clarke, Ba (Rigg) Substitutes not used: Bass, Johnson, Kelly, Watson
Fulham: Rodak, Tete (Reid), Kurzawa, Palhinha (Reed), Duffy, Adarabioyo, Wilson, Harris (Pereira), Vinicius (Mitrovic), Cairney, Soloman (James) Substitutes not used: Leno, Diop, Robinson, Willian
Attendance: 29,651
Prediction…
Sunderland 1-0 Fulham
Fulham are a weird side. It isn’t going to come easy, but a goal from a set piece could be the difference.
