Arsenal arrive at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night with simple arithmetic in front of them. Three wins from three have left the champions second, level with Manchester City on nine points and on goal difference, separated only by the seven goals City have scored to Arsenal's six. City do not play until Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford. Win here and Arsenal lead the Premier League outright for the first time this season, with a day in which nobody can answer.
The complication is the venue. Arsenal's last visit to Wearside, in November, finished 2-2. Dan Ballard put Sunderland ahead, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard turned it round, and Brian Brobbey equalised in the 94th minute. Arsenal have not lost to Sunderland in 14 meetings, a run going back to an FA Cup tie in 2012, and they still left that night with one point instead of three.
Régis Le Bris's side sit 12th on four points, beaten 2-1 at Ipswich on the opening weekend, then a 1-0 home win over Fulham and a 1-1 draw at Brentford, where Enzo Le Fée equalised from a late penalty. The record that matters more is the home one. Sunderland have played twice at the Stadium of Light this season, in the league and in the Carabao Cup against Hull, and have not conceded in either.
Granit Xhaka captains them against the club he left in 2023, and Malick Fofana, signed for a reported £30 million on deadline day after Arsenal had been linked with him, gives Le Bris something quick to run at a high line. "It is going to be a demanding game, they are flying right now," Le Bris said this week, which is true and also the reason his side will sit deep and wait.
That is the puzzle for Saka. Two league goals already, and the most direct threat Arsenal carry against a defence that has not been opened at home, in a fixture where the space he usually finds on the right will not be there. The 2-2 in November is the evidence for both readings: he scored, and Arsenal still dropped two points.
Mikel Arteta takes a squad with no fresh problems out of Wednesday's 1-0 win in Naples, where Martin Ødegaard scored on 75 minutes. William Saliba remains out with the back injury he aggravated at the World Cup. Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber are both close, Arteta describing Timber as being in good shape after several days back in training, though neither is certain here. Sunderland are without Romaine Mundle, who has a knee injury, and Habib Diarra until after the international break.
Asked what Arsenal could take from last season's trip, Arteta offered "plenty of things to improve, to be alert to." A side that has conceded once all season is not short of control. Wearside in November is the reminder that control is not the same as finishing the job.
