Sandwiched between their defeat to Ipswich Town and a tough upcoming schedule, Sunderland picked up a much-needed win over Fulham in Gameweek 2.

All it took was a solid defensive display, plus substitute Wilson Isidor‘s (£5.5m) 75th-minute strike.

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Here’s our Scout Notes from the Stadium of Light.

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IS BROBBEY UNDER PRESSURE?

Over a million Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers began 2026/27 with centre-forward Brian Brobbey (£6.0m), but he’s yet to produce an attacking return.

Here, there was just one headed effort from Granit Xhaka‘s (£5.5m) cross, which wasn’t really a threat. Merely 0.03 expected goals (xG).

So, Regis Le Bris freshened things up, and replacement Isidor immediately brought some threat. He hit the post when a long pass found Enzo Le Fee (£5.9m) in space out wide, who crossed for a first-time shot.

But he didn’t have to wait long for another chance. Habib Diarra (£5.5m) was soon played down the right flank and centred the ball so that it lured Bernd Leno (£4.5m) out, but still favoured Isidor. The Haitian poked it in, and perhaps that’s enough to earn a Gameweek 3 start over Brobbey.

“We were impressive in the first half – we were good on the ball but didn’t create many chances. It was tight and tactical.

“The second half was about our subs. It was the perfect time to change our energy in front of our attackers. We went with Enzo (Le Fée), Wilson (Isidor) and Habib (Diarra). They gave us something different. We created the foundations at the beginning of the game, and they didn’t adapt.” – Regis Le Bris

As for Diarra, a small muscular issue forced the substitute to then be subbed.

“His injury doesn’t look too serious at the minute, but we’ll see.” – Regis Le Bris

MUKIELE + BALLARD DEFCON

Sunderland collected seven home clean sheets last time, and got one straight away here.

Unsurprisingly, Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) came in for Luke O’Nien (£4.0m), starting his season in style by racking up a huge 19 defensive contributions (DefCon). The highlight was a big intervention that nullified Gonzalo Garcia‘s (£6.0m) shot.

As a defender, Mukiele only needed 10 such actions to gain a couple of extra points. Thanks to a late Opta update, teammate Dan Ballard (£5.0m) was also successful, jumping from eight to 10. Pretty impressive, considering he’d only accumulated one by half-time.

Fellow centre-back Omar Alderete (£5.0m) was an unused substitute.

LE FEE BLANK

Meanwhile, like Brobbey, Le Fee is a fairly popular FPL pick who is yet to deliver.

In fairness, he set up Isidor’s woodwork moment and had a big chance for himself, one of four overall shots.

The Frenchman registered 0.54 expected goal involvement (xGI) and could still end up being their penalty taker – especially if Diarra isn’t around! He’s since dropped in price overnight.

Colleague Trai Hume (£4.5m) was again selected as an out-of-position winger, but did little of note. Just an airshot when Thomas Meunier (£4.5m) cushioned Xhaka’s diagonal ball into his path.

But whether you own Brobbey, Le Fee, Hume or someone at the back, now is probably a good time to jump off Sunderland assets.

Our free Fixture Ticker says they have the toughest run of opponents in all eight selectable Gameweek periods (three, four, five, six, eight, 10, 12 and 16). Furthermore, after hosting Arsenal, the complication of European football gets added to the mix.

WHY DID XHAKA GET 3 BONUS POINTS?

For anyone curious about why Xhaka – without a goal, assist, DefCon or defensive shutout to his name – joined Isidor on three bonus points, the answer belongs to his underlying stats.

He played the whole match, secured a 93% pass completion (PC) rate, won three fouls (FW), created four key passes (KP) and set up two big chances (BCC):

As an aside, the veteran made a number of eye-catching cross-field passes. He’s so crucial to the Black Cats.

BACK TO EARTH FOR FULHAM AFTER IMPRESSING IN GAMEWEEK 1

However, that’s two successive defeats for Fulham.

Last season’s only team to beat Sunderland on both occasions, they had a threatening spell around the hour mark and when chasing a late equaliser.

But all they could muster was a couple of decent Josh King (£5.5m) efforts and three from Garcia, whose previous week brought goals past both Chelsea and Wimbledon.

Up next is a home match versus Crystal Palace. That, plus the final 24 hours of this transfer window, could determine how much of a struggle this season will be for the Cottagers.

“We didn’t even fight, we didn’t run, poor technical level. We were not in the game.

“Against Chelsea at home, it’s easy to run and fight but you have to do it every game. It’s about the character, the mentality, and ambition. We didn’t win any second balls. We want to be competitive, it’s the most important thing for a team. We were not at our level – we need to show something more.” – Alvaro Arbeloa