Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs urged his teammates to keep their heads high amid a recent dip in form that has seen them slip to 12th in the Premier League.
After a strong start to the season, the Regis Le Bris side were touted to challenge for a place in Europe next season, but have since lost their last three top-flight games.
In their last defeat they went down 3-1 to Fulham at the Stadium of Light, with Raul Jimenez’s quick double doing the damage for the Cottagers.
Sunderland make the long journey to Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth this Saturday, and Roefs will be hoping the Black Cats can provide a response to halt their slump in results.
“We gave away a lot of counter-attacks. We were slightly better in the second half. We had good chances, but were not there at the key moments,” said Roefs.
“We should have done better, we want to do better, but on to the next one and we keep our heads up. At this level you are punished if you don’t take chances.”
“Overall it’s one missed opportunity. It’s not good enough and we have to step up our game.”
“We fight for each other, but when we have the ball we have to be more confident. The only way to continue is to keep our heads up and get three points next week.”
Heading south to take on Bournemouth #BOUSUN pic.twitter.com/ABchlQkVua
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) February 25, 2026
But Sunderland come up against a Bournemouth side whose resurgence in the table has taken them to eighth place and within reach of a European spot.
However, Andoni Iraola’s side were held to a goalless draw against West Ham in their final Premier League match at the London Stadium, but perhaps they were lucky to escape with just one point.
West Ham’s expected goals (xG) of 2.82 against Bournemouth is the most of any side not to score in a single Premier League match this season, while the Hammers’ 20 shots were the most in a top-flight match in 2025-26.
But Iraola was pleased with the Cherries’ performance in the capital and added that Bournemouth are one step closer to surpassing a new points tally in their campaign ambitions.
“We put in good individual performances. At least we didn’t concede any goals and we’re going through with a point,” Iraola said.
“It’s about winning duels, wanting to have the ball and attacking the spaces, and we got better in the second half.
“We have found some more depth and it was especially good in the second half. This is a difficult stadium to reach outside of home.”
“We have 38 points and I hope we get to the next 40, and then we’ll see where we are when we arrive.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Bournemouth – Junior croup
Junior Kroupi has scored eight goals from just 26 shots in the Premier League this season, the best shot conversion rate of any player with more than 20 attempts (31%).
However, he has failed to find the back of the net in his last three games in the top flight, while the last time he scored at Vitality Stadium was on January 7 against Tottenham.
Sunderland – Robin Roefs
One player who wants to stop Kroupi is Roefs, who until the 0-0 draw against Manchester City on New Year’s Day has prevented the highest number of goals in the Premier League (4.7 – 17 goals conceded from 21.7 xGoT).
Since then, however, he has conceded almost four more goals than expected (15 goals conceded from 11.4 xGoT), with only Guglielmo Vicario having a worse figure in that time (4.1, 18 goals conceded from 13.9 xGoT).
MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WINS
Despite being favored by the Opta supercomputer, Bournemouth have lost three of their four home games against Sunderland, the exception being a 2-0 win in September 2015.
However, only Manchester United (ten) have a longer run of unbeaten Premier League matches than Bournemouth (seven – W4 D3). Should they avoid defeat here, it would be their second eight-match unbeaten run in 2025/26, having gone winless for 11 games between those runs.
But only Crystal Palace and Newcastle United (both four) have drawn more 0-0 draws than Bournemouth’s three in the league this season, and this is also their highest in a top-flight campaign (also three in 2015/16 and 2019/20).
Sunderland, meanwhile, have lost their last three Premier League games, the same number as in their previous twelve (W4 D5). They last lost more in a row in December 2015 (five).
However, the Black Cats will be looking to complete their second league double against Bournemouth after the second season of 1989-90 following their 3-2 win in November.
The Le Bris team has 36 points in the Premier League this season and an expected points total of just 27.2. Only Aston Villa (+17.2) have outperformed their expected points this season than Sunderland (8.8).
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Bournemouth – 59.6%
Draw – 21.1%
Sunderland – 19.3%
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