It has been exactly 20 days since Brighton and Hove Albion last kicked a football in the Premier League. After a lengthy international break, top-flight football has finally returned to England for teams throughout the country – including Brighton.

We return to the Premier League with a tough clash away at the Stadium of Light, as Fabian Hurzeler’s men make the long journey up to Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland.

Brighton have historically had the upper hand against Sunderland, winning 15 and drawing eight of the clubs 37 meetings. Furthermore, Brighton have not lost against the North-Eastern outfit since 2004. Many things have changed since then, such as Brighton’s position in the league. The Seagulls find themselves flying high in third, trailing only Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Albion last faced the Black Cats in March of last season, with a tense and hard fought game resulting in a 1-0 win in favour of the visitors. Yankuba Minteh’s strange effort was enough for Brighton to secure three valuable points in the chase for European football.

Off-balance, Minteh tried chipping a miss-hit cross into the six-yard box, dribbling past Sunderland goalkeeper Melker Ellborg and dribbling into the back of the net.

Over the break, Brighton achieved a “clean sweep” for the Premier League’s monthly awards, becoming the fifth team in history to win the Manager, Player, and Goal of the month awards all at once.

When asked about the awards, Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler referred to Player of the month winner Pascal Gross as “like a good wine, the older the better”. Gross’ continuous good form continues to drive Brighton forward, and will undoubtably be looking to make a difference this weekend.

After three weeks apart, both teams will want to restart their season with a bang. Sunderland find themselves in an entirely different scenario to the Albion, lingering in 14th place with only one win to their name.

The Black Cats began their season with a 2-1 defeat away at newly promoted Ipswich Town, thanks to a late goal from ex-player Jack Clarke. Sunderland would soon pick up their one and only win of the season against a struggling Fulham side, followed by a respectable draw away at Brentford. Since then, Sunderland have lost against the top two, thanks to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal and a 5-3 thriller away at Manchester City.

However, Sunderland’s form in all competitions tells a different story. Wins against Hull and AZ Alkmaar take their home win-rate to 75%. With a bouncing Stadium of Light, Brighton may struggle at phases despite being unbeaten since August.

To make matters worse for Sunderland, they are without top-scorer Brian Brobbey who was injured on international duty. Captain Dan Ballard and midfielder Habib Diarra are also doubtful, both set to return near the end of the month. Additionally, Romaine Mundle is out with a knee injury until the new year.

Brighton’s injury list is significantly longer than Sunderland’s. In recent years, it feels as though the Albion are always in the midst of an injury crisis due to our high energy style of play. Ryan Adsett has reported that Brighton are without Kaoru Mitoma, Femi Azeez, Evan Ferguson, Stefanos Tzimas, Yankuba Minteh, and Mats Wieffer. Though, Brighton’s remarkable start to the season implies we can easily win games without our usual best players.

Brighton are expected to line up with Bart Verbruggen in-between the sticks, with a returning Lewis Dunk partnering Croatian wonderkid Luka Vuskovic at centre back. Vuskovic was part of a defence that conceded seven to England in the Nations League two weeks ago, but would’ve put that behind him returning to club football.

Olivier Boscagli and Ferdi Kadioglu should feature as the full backs, seeing them hopefully retain the good form they had at the start of the season. Spaniard Chema Andres and Player of the Month winner Pascal Gross are expected to feature with Yasin Ayari in the midfield.

Maxim De Cuyper scored the game-winning goal against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup and is expected to feature with Diego Gomez on the flanks – either side of Greek sensation Babis Kostoulas in the attack.

Verbruggen’s Dutch teammate Robin Roefs should start in goal for Sunderland, behind a back four featuring Reinildo, Omar Alderete, Kevin Danso and Nordi Mukiele. Noah Sadiki’s midfield partner Granit Xhaka has been involved in controversy recently, after faking a Covid certificate and receiving an £136,000 suspended fine. Nonetheless, he is expected to start with Sadiki and Enzo Le Fee in the midfield. Thomas Meunier and Nilson Angulo are expected to feature, with Wilson Isidor taking injured Brian Brobbey’s place.Sunderlan

With all this being said, Brighton vs Sunderland will be an unpredictable, lively affair. However, come 5:00 on Saturday, Fabian Hurzeler’s men may just be celebrating another huge three points in their Premier League campaign.