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Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium in Matchweek 7, ending a winless start that had them bottom of the table. Marcus Tavernier headed them ahead in the 6th minute from an Evanilson cross, and Sunderland's Kevin Danso was sent off in the 17th for hauling down Evanilson as he went through, which more or less settled the evening. Evanilson added the second early in the second half, pouncing on a loose back pass from Omar Alderete and rolling it round Robin Roefs, who made a handful of good saves to stop it getting ugly. That's Bournemouth's first win of the season, lifting them to 6 points and out of last place; Sunderland stay on 7 points and will want to forget this one quickly.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1This is Matchweek 7's relegation six-pointer, whatever the pundits call it. Bournemouth are still waiting for their first league win of the season: three points from six games, three draws, three defeats, and a minus-nine goal difference. Sunderland arrive in a wobbly patch of their own, so a defeat here makes the drop zone feel very real, very early.
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2The two have been evenly matched in the past, and the last meeting at the Vitality Stadium finished 1-1. That is a handy fact if you want to sound informed and also hedge your bets. Bournemouth are the bookmakers' favourites, but only just, at roughly a 47% chance of winning.
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3Keep an eye on Brian Brobbey, back from a hamstring problem for Sunderland. His last appearance was a hat-trick against Manchester City, which is the kind of thing you can mention to look like you've been paying attention all season. If he starts, Bournemouth's leaky defence has a very specific headache.
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4Bournemouth's injury list is long: Alex Scott, Eli Kroupi, Julian Araujo, Veljko Milosavljevic and Justin Kluivert are all reported missing. Sunderland have their own question marks, with Wilson Isidor a doubt and Robin Roefs under scrutiny for conceding 12 goals from an expected 8.23. Check the confirmed team sheets before kick-off, because both sides are short of certainty.
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5Both clubs have had a European midweek to recover from. Bournemouth beat Sturm Graz 3-0 in the Europa League, while Sunderland snatched a 2-1 win in Portugal with Noah Sadiki's 93rd-minute winner, on their first European away trip in 50 years. So this is two sides with decent continental vibes and no league wins to show for it between them. Somebody's story gets a lot worse by 4pm.
Team Talking Points
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1Bournemouth are the form team nobody's talking about: last weekend's 2-1 win at Ipswich made it eight wins in a row in all competitions. Even better, it's four straight league wins – something they hadn't managed in a single season since December 2023.
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2It's a proper turnaround story. Marco Rose's side didn't win any of their first six Premier League games (three draws, three defeats), and now they're up to seventh on 15 points, just three behind the top four. Drop 'they were winless after six games, you know' and watch people do the maths.
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3Striker Evanilson is red hot. He scored inside five minutes at Ipswich after nicking the ball off the goalkeeper and rolling it into an empty net, and that's now five Premier League games in a row with a goal – the first Bournemouth player ever to do that.
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4The bigger clubs are circling. Arsenal are reportedly keen on young forward Eli Junior Kroupi, although the word is Bournemouth have no intention of letting him go before the summer. It's the price of being good at spotting talent – everyone else eventually notices.
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5There's an England angle too: defender James Hill was called up to the senior squad this week as cover after Ezri Konsa dropped out of training. Not bad for a club whose matchday squad still costs a fraction of the Premier League's big spenders.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Eight wins on the bounce and Evanilson can't stop scoring – Bournemouth have gone from 'winless after six' to sniffing round the top four in about six weeks.
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Avoid saying
"Bournemouth are just a nice little seaside club" – they've won eight straight and are three points off the Champions League places. Patronise them now and you'll look daft by Christmas.
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1Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, and it was a big one. It ended a winless run, lifted them off the bottom of the table, and pushed Chelsea out of the top four. Not a bad afternoon's work.
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2The goal was an Enzo Le Fée penalty in the 36th minute, after striker Brian Brobbey was brought down by Levi Colwill. Chelsea moaned that Brobbey had pulled Colwill first. Sunderland fans will tell you, cheerfully, that the decision stood.
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3Chelsea had about 69% of the ball, but Sunderland created the better chances. One stats site had Sunderland's expected goals at 2.55 against Chelsea's 0.53. Translation for the non-fan: the scoreline flattered Chelsea, not Sunderland.
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4Manager Régis Le Bris had been under real pressure going in, so this one mattered. He called it 'crucial', but admitted that the target is still 40 points and there's 'a long way to go'. Sunderland are 19th on eight points, so he's right.
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5First up after the break is Aston Villa away on Saturday 21 November. Then there's the small matter of the Tyne–Wear derby at Newcastle on 5 December. Feel free to ask a Sunderland fan whether they've started thinking about it. They have.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Chelsea had seventy per cent of the ball and Sunderland had all three points. Funny how that works.
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Avoid saying
"Sunderland? I thought they were still in League One." They did spend years down there, and Netflix made a whole documentary about how painful it was. Bringing it up now, with Chelsea freshly beaten, is a quick way to get a stony stare.