We continue Saturday’s Scout Notes with a look back at Sunderland 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion.
INJURY UPDATES ON BALLARD, MUKIELE, LE FEE + MORE
Sunderland are rivalling Tottenham Hotspur in the injury stakes.
Already without six players in the run-up to Gameweek 30, they lost a further two in training – Enzo Le Fee (£5.0m) and Nilson Angulo (£5.0m) – before Saturday’s game.
To compound the misery, Dan Ballard (£4.7m) hobbled off with hamstring discomfort and Wilson Isidor (£5.1m) was unusable on the bench.
“It wasn’t possible [to bring Wilson on] because he got an injury.
“Dan had discomfort with his hamstring, so we hope it isn’t too serious.
“We expect Enzo to be ready for Newcastle, it might be possible. For Nilson, we’ll have to wait at least four to six weeks.” – Regis Le Bris, via the Sunderland Echo
As for other potential returnees in the Tyne-Wear derby, it sounds like Reinildo Mandava (£3.8m) has the best chance.
Regis Le Bris sounded less sure about Nordi Mukiele (£4.5m) and Robin Roefs‘ (£4.8m) availability for Gameweek 31 when asked last Thursday. Speaking on Saturday, the Sunderland boss was again cautious about Mukiele.
“Reinildo will train with us tomorrow, so that’s good news.
“Nordi is getting better, we’ll see for next week. It’s always the same: you can take the risk, he might play against Newcastle, but if we lose him for eight weeks after, it doesn’t make sense. We are always on the edge so we’ll try to manage the situation properly.” – Regis Le Bris, via the Sunderland Echo
SUNDERLAND GOAL DROUGHT
There’s some mitigation, then, for the goal drought.
And what a drought it is. First off, Sunderland are the lowest scorers in the division over their last six league matches.
Above: Teams sorted by fewest goals over the last six Gameweeks
But the situation is even worse than it first appears. In their last eight league and cup matches, they’ve scored just one non-penalty goal. That includes meeting with Oxford United and Port Vale.
The Black Cats didn’t actually play badly on Saturday, and they were again solid at the rear, but they didn’t carve out too many clear chances. Chemsdine Talbi (£4.9m) saw an early effort cleared off the line, while Chris Rigg (£4.7m) sent a bicycle kick just off target, but ultimately, not one of their 14 shots even registered 0.1 for xG.
For those playing a Free Hit or otherwise in Gameweek 31, a Newcastle United defender is very tempting.
Sunderland’s leading goalscorer, Brian Brobbey (£5.4m), is at least back from injury, marking his return with a start on Saturday.
MINTEH NETS ON STARTING XI RETURN, HINSHELWOOD THREAT
Sunderland were unfortunate to lose their clean sheet to a freak Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) goal.
The winger was making his first start of 2026, having been made to work hard to reclaim his place by his exacting manager. Even in the post-match praise, there was the challenge to be “more reliable defensively”.
“He has the quality not many players have and I’m really happy for him because he overcame a really difficult phase he went through.
“He understood what he needs to come back on the pitch. He was waiting for his chance. Then he got his chance and I think he used it in a really positive way.”
“I think that’s the thing we have to work on with him, to keep doing unpredictable things offensively, but keeping more reliable defensively.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Yankuba Minteh, via the Argus
While Minteh bagged the lucky winner, Jack Hinshelwood (£5.1m) had the two best Brighton chances. Both drew saves from Melker Ellborg (£4.0m), the first of which was a superb reflex kick away from a close-range effort.
Hinshelwood has been playing as a ’10’ during Brighton’s recent run of good results and his underlying numbers, if not his goal count, are good in that time:
Above: Midfielders sorted by shots in the box over the last five Gameweeks
SOLID SEAGULLS?
At the rear, Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) was impressive again.
Brighton, interestingly, have conceded zero or one goals in 10 of their last 11 Premier League matches. Liverpool may not find it straightforward at the Amex in Gameweek 31.
It was a DefCon bonanza for the Seagulls, with six players picking up said points. Ballard was the only Mackem to deliver on that front.
Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) actually averages more contributions per 90 minutes (14.19 v 13.92) than the much-hailed Elliot Anderson (£5.5m) this season.
Above: Brighton players picking up DefCon points on Saturday
