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We've taken a look at Sunderland's best XI from the Premier League season so far, based on WhoScored's stats-backed player ratings.
Sunderland have made a great start to life back in the Premier League, surprising many with just how competitive they’ve been.
The Black Cats currently sit fourth after 11 games as we head into the latest international break, with 19 points, five wins and just two defeats on the board. That already leaves them nine points clear of the relegation zone, with just three points separating them from Manchester City in second. But how does all this translate statistically? We’ve taken a look at WhoScored’s metric-backed player ratings to see what they define as Sunderland’s best XI so far this season.
WhoScored’s Sunderland best XI from the 2025/26 Premier League
Check out Sunderland’s best XI from the 2025/26 Premier League season below, based on WhoScored’s stats-based player ratings. A 4-3-3 formation has been identified as the most frequently used by Regis Le Bris, who has lined his team up in this shape five times so far, with 4-2-3-1 (3 times), 5-4-1 (twice) and 3-4-3 (once) also seeing action throughout the campaign.
GK: Robin Roefs (6.8)
RB: Trai Hume (7.0)
CB: Nordi Mukiele (7.5)
CB: Omar Alderete (7.1)
LB: Reinildo (6.6)
CM: Habib Diarra (6.3)
CM:Granit Xhaka (7.3)
CM: Noah Sadiki (6.5)
RW: Chemsdine Talbi (6.3)
CF: Eliezer Mayenda (6.5)
LW: Simon Adingra (6.4)
Wilson Isidor doesn’t make WhoScored’s Sunderland best XIplaceholder image
Wilson Isidor doesn’t make WhoScored’s Sunderland best XI | Getty Images
Wilson Isidor misses out on WhoScored’s Sunderland XI
There are few very predictable outcomes from WhoScored’s line-up, such as Nordi Mukiele, Granit Xhaka and Omar Alderete being Sunderland’s highest-performing players and the only three with ratings over 7.0. However, you would probably expect a better return than 6.8 from goalkeeper Robin Roefs, who is second in the league for saves (68) and has the highest save percentage of any gloveman at 79.2%.
After that, the biggest surprise is undoubtedly the omission of Wilson Isidor, who is Sunderland’s top scorer so far with four goals in 11 Premier League appearances - eight from the start. The French scored three of those goals in his first five appearances, but did also net the equaliser in the 2-1 comeback win away at Chelsea in October.
Isidor is replaced in the line-up by youngster Eliezer Mayenda, who has only played around a third of the minutes as his counterpart, but did score in the opening-weekend win over West Ham and has made some lively cameos from the bench. The lowest-performing player in the line-up is Chemsdine Talbi at 6.3. The young Belgian started brightly with an assist on his debut, but eventually lost his place after a series of underwhelming performances. However, Talbi scored the winner in that aforementioned victory over Chelsea, while putting in a lively showing from the bench in the 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal last time out.
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