'We take it on the chin, and we go again' - Cullen defiant ahead of Sunderland clash

Burnley and Sunderland head into Saturday's Premier League encounter having been on the wrong and right ends of 3-0 opening-day scorelines, respectively.

Scott Parker's Clarets received a baptism of fire at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as they fell to defeat against Thomas Frank's Spurs in their first match back in the top-flight. 

However, Burnley return to Turf Moor having gone the entire 2024-25 campaign unbeaten at home, during a season in which they recorded a 100-point return and narrowly missed out on the Championship crown to Leeds United on goal difference.

Following Burnley's defeat in North London and ahead of their game with Sunderland, captain Josh Cullen revealed conversations about his side's attitude, saying: "We spoke about it last year.

"You never get too high with the highs and you never get too low with the lows. There's always next week in football.

"We've been beaten, but we take it on the chin and we go again. Nothing was going to be decided for our season. Of course, we wanted to get off to a good start, and we had full belief we could get something from the game.

"We've shown positives but we also found out where we need to tidy up and that hits home a little bit more because we've been punished, so we'll need to make sure we're bang on from now on.

"But the message is to stick together, go again and look forward to another Premier League next week."

Meanwhile, Sunderland enjoyed contrasting fortunes in their first Premier League curtain-raiser in nine years, cruising to a 3-0 win against Graham Potter's West Ham United at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats' clinical second-half display saw Regis Le Bris' side score two headers in quick succession, the first time Sunderland have headed home twice in a Premier League game since 2014 (3-1 vs Stoke City), before Wilson Isidor wrapped up all three points with the third.

After chalking up their first three points of the season, Sunderland will be aiming to achieve a feat they have not reached since the 1980-81 campaign — winning their first two games in a top-division season. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Burnley – Josh Cullen

Embarking on his fourth season with the club, Cullen has been a pivotal part of two promotion-winning sides, having featured in 44 of Burnley's 46 league games last term.

Setting a captain's example, Cullen led all players in creating the most chances (five) during matchday one of this Premier League season, marking his highest number of chances created in a single league game for the club.

This also represents the highest number of chances created by a Republic of Ireland player in a Premier League match since Conor Hourihane set the record with seven chances for Aston Villa against Sheffield United in June 2020.

Sunderland – Dan Ballard

The man responsible for getting the Black Cats to Wembley following a last-gasp winner in the play-off semi-final against Coventry City marked his Premier League debut with a goal and a clean sheet, topping the stats for shots (four) and shots on target (two).

The centre-back characterised Sunderland's emphatic display against West Ham last weekend, winning 10 of his 13 duels, six aerial duels, as well as winning possession back for his side on four occasions. 

MATCH PREDICTION: BURNLEY

Burnley have remained unbeaten in their last three Premier League home matches against Sunderland, with two wins and one draw, the latest being a 4-1 win in December 2016. The Clarets conceded on just eight occasions while on home soil last term.

But the Clarets have lost their first home Premier League match of the season in seven of their nine seasons in the competition (W2), with the other two seeing them defeat Manchester United in 2009-10 and Southampton in 2019-20.

And after losing to Tottenham, Burnley have already conceded 19% of the league goals they conceded in the entirety of 2024-25 in one Premier League match in 2025-26 (3/16). The Clarets are on a run of 21 consecutive Premier League matches without a clean sheet since a 2-0 win at Fulham in December 2023.

Sunderland, meanwhile, have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight league encounters with Burnley, including the last three consecutive games. However, in the two remaining matches during this period, they conceded exactly four goals each time.

Additionally, Sunderland have struggled away in the Premier League during August and September, failing to win any of their last 24 fixtures in those months (12 draws and 12 losses) since their 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in August 2009.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Burnley – 40%

Draw – 28.5%

Sunderland – 31.6%