Bournemouth earned their first Premier League win and clean sheet of 2026/27 with a comfortable victory over 10-man Sunderland on Sunday.

Here are our Scout Notes from the Vitality Stadium.

EARLY RED CARD KILLS CONTEST

An early Marcus Tavernier (£6.2m) goal put Bournemouth in a great position but it was Kevin Danso’s (£5.0m) 16th-minute, last-man moment of madness – hauling back Evanilson (£6.1m) – that pretty much settled this contest, with Sunderland trailing and numerically disadvantaged for a huge chunk of the match.

The Mackems barely threatened thereafter, with the Cherries in total control. Evanilson’s second, after another shoddy bit of defending, this time from Omar Alderete (£4.8m), eliminated any lingering doubt about the outcome of the match.

The huge expected goals chasm between the two sides really boosted the Cherries’ standing in the underlying numbers:

Above: The leading Premier League clubs for xG and xG conceded this season

STAT-PADDING AGAINST 10 MEN – OR WORTHY OF PRAISE?

The numerical mismatch means that there’s an asterisk next to the Cherries’ underlying numbers, both individually and collectively.

But it’s not always a given that ’10 v 11′ results in one-sided superiority. Just ask Sunderland themselves after Gameweek 6 (and Manchester United twice already this season!).

So, some credit to Bournemouth for making their advantage count.

Rayan (£6.3m) continues to defy the odds of scoring a goal. No player has had more shots (21) or big chances (five) without finding the net this season.

Saturday saw him rack up a Gameweek-joint-high seven shots, too. A goal is surely imminent; two of his efforts against Sunderland drew very good Robin Roefs (£4.9m) saves.

Evanilson meanwhile is in a fine run of form, scoring in his last three matches in all competitions. Unselfishly teeing up Tavernier for the Cherries’ opener, the Brazilian striker then finished his own one-on-one with uncharacterisic cool.

We’re still to be truly convinced by the Bournemouth forward. He’s underachieved on the xG front in all three seasons on the south coast, including this one, and this was his first real successful Premier League finish since February. Last week’s goal was wellied in off him!

Tavernier, now up to third in the FPL midfielder points table, arguably remains the stand-out. His four Premier League goals is a tally that only Messrs Haaland, Pedro and Isak can better.

He had two huge chances here, one scored and one saved, and continues to lead his teammates on the underlying numbers front:

One downside to Tavernier is that Justin KIuivert (£5.9m) has now recovered from injury. The Dutchman, potentially ahead of Tavernier on penalties, got the final half an hour here.

SILVA DELIVERS DEFCON AGAIN

At the other end, Antonio Silva (£5.0m) delivered DefCon points for the fifth time this season. That’s a joint-best total among all FPL defenders.

The Cherries finally followed through on their promising underlying defensive numbers with this clean sheet, too.

AN UNHAPPY CAMP?

Sunderland are now 20th in the league table after Tottenham Hotspur’s win on Monday.

In fairness, they’ve had a tough few weeks, playing four top-six sides and then this match with 10 v 11.

But it’s not great hearing comments like the below from the club’s own players.

 “To be honest with you, we are not good enough. If we deserve to be where we are today? Yeah, definitely.

“Why? I don’t know. Maybe because we became arrogant, maybe. This is what I think.

“We struggle everywhere, to be honest. We don’t score enough; we concede so much.

“We have to go back to basics, like how we were last season.” – Nordi Mukiele

The defensive side of things is probably the main worry. The Black Cats weren’t free-scoring last season, either, but they had a lot of success built on their stubborn backline.

As it is, no side has made more errors that led to goals than Regis Le Bris’ side (five) in 2026/27.

BROBBEY INJURY LATEST

The Mackems should get a boost further forward soon, at least.

Rookie Tymur Tutierov (£5.0m) had to start up front on Sunday but main man Brian Brobbey (£5.7m) will be back soon.

“With a hamstring injury, it’s really important to take care of him. He’s in a good place but we can’t rush the process. He will be ready soon, which is good news for the team.” – Regis Le Bris on Brian Brobbey