Sunderland aiming for Premier League stability, says Adingra

New signing Simon Adingra says Sunderland "want to be stable in the Premier League" ahead of their trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Sunderland have enjoyed a fruitful start to their 2025-26 season, having won their first two home games of a Premier League campaign for the first time since 2001-02.

The Black Cats completed a last-gasp comeback against Brentford before the international break, as an 82nd-minute Enzo Le Fee equaliser was followed up by a dramatic Wilson Isidor winner in stoppage time.

Deadline day was not a quiet one at the Stadium of Light, as Regis Le Bris added a further three new players to his squad, with Brian Brobbey, Bertrand Traore, and Lutsharel Geertruida taking Sunderland’s total arrivals to 14.

One of those additions was Adingra, who joined in a £20m switch from Brighton and has already made an impact.

But he stressed that Sunderland's first target is finding their feet in the big time.

He said: “We have a good squad and they have been welcoming so they’ve helped me adapt as quickly as possible into the team. We have really good teammates.

“When I look at the quality of the players and the project of the club, we see the aim of wanting to be in the Premier League. We are not coming here to go straight back down, and we want to be stable in the Premier League.”

Palace, meanwhile, are aiming to extend their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Fresh off the back of a memorable 3-0 away win at Aston Villa, the Eagles are on the longest current unbeaten league run of any Premier League side (nine), winning three and drawing six. They last went 10 top-flight games unbeaten between May and October 1990 (12).

According to recent reports, Palace are looking to extend Oliver Glasner’s contract, with the Austrian leading the club to the FA Cup and Community Shield this year.

Palace managed to retain the services of defensive stalwart Marc Guehi, with the Eagles pulling the plug on his deadline day move to Liverpool.

Guehi was on the scoresheet for the first time in a Three Lions shirt on Tuesday, in England's 5-0 thrashing of Serbia. 

"It's a fantastic feeling," Guehi told ITV Sport after scoring his first international goal.

"You work really hard growing up, so to score a goal for your country is the best feeling."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace – Marc Guehi

Following his eventful deadline day, with Guehi reportedly left extremely unhappy with the hierarchy at Palace, all eyes will be firmly on his performance come Saturday.

The centre-back scored last time out, having netted a screamer to claim the Eagles’ second at Villa Park.

He has been ever-present in a Palace side that has kept 10 clean sheets in their last 18 Premier League games.

Sunderland – Nordi Mukiele

Mukiele, who joined Sunderland from Paris Saint-Germain during the summer transfer window, posted a peerless debut against Brentford, winning the most duels (12), tackles (four), and touches (84) of any other player, as well as the joint-most accurate passes (49).

MATCH PREDICTION: CRYSTAL PALACE WIN

Palace have been very consistent against newly promoted sides, losing just once in their last 16 meetings (10 wins, five draws), with that single defeat (2-1) coming against Luton Town in November 2023.

Ismaila Sarr has been a key figure, directly contributing to nine goals in his last 12 starts for Palace across all competitions (six goals and three assists). Since this run began on April 26, only Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez has registered more combined goals and assists in the Premier League (five goals and eight assists).

Palace also lead the league for high-intensity pressing this season, recording 1,081 pressures on opponents.

Sunderland are the first newly promoted side since Leeds United in 2020-21 to win at least two of their opening three fixtures. To date, only two promoted sides have ever begun a Premier League campaign with three wins in their first four games: Nottingham Forest in 1994-95 and Bolton Wanderers in 2001-02.

The Black Cats have not scored a single first-half goal in the Premier League this season, managing only 11 attempts in the opening 45 minutes. In contrast, they have been far more effective after the break, scoring five goals from 20 shots in the second half, a tally bettered only by Liverpool, who have six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace – 71.6%

Draw – 16.2%

Sunderland - 12.1%