So impressive has been Sunderland’s form, and so poor have Manchester United been, that a comfortable win for the Red Devils on Saturday was actually quite unexpected.
First-half goals from Mason Mount (£5.9m) and Benjamin Sesko (£7.3m) did the damage as Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) once again dodged the points.
Here’s what we saw at Old Trafford.
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CUNHA OUT, MOUNT IN
There was a big call before kick-off as Ruben Amorim opted for Mason Mount (£5.9m) over Matheus Cunha (£8.0m).
The United boss didn’t go into specifics on Cunha but we did hear him praise Mount’s work rate after full-time. He also audibly berated the Brazilian for not tracking back shortly after the winger’s 65th-minute introduction.
“I think Mason Mount can give us… he’s more a midfielder than a winger or a striker. He can defend really well. He’s really smart. He can attack really well. Today, he had a number of minutes because we have to manage when a guy like Mason is returning from injury. He did really well. So, it’s the characteristics that we are going to change when we look to every opponent.” – Ruben Amorim on Mason Mount
Mount’s well-taken goal, a performance full of graft and a standing ovation for the former Chelsea man suggest it may be hard for Cunha to immediately reclaim his place.
“You need to understand that we need everybody to be ready to play. It’s a long season.” – Ruben Amorim
TWO IN TWO FOR SESKO
Sesko doesn’t have quite the same level of competition for his place.
Mount and Cunha were trialled up top earlier in the campaign, while the Slovenian was building up his fitness. Neither experiment was particularly successful.
Gradually, Sesko is getting accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.
“I think it’s way quicker. You have less time in general. I think this is one of the biggest changes, I would say, and obviously also the physicality. It’s really physical and athletic but yeah, again, I’m getting used to it and I will come to the level like this soon.” – Benjamin Sesko
It’s two goals in two matches for Sesko now, with this latest strike an instinctive effort from a long throw.
As anyone who has watched him over the years, he’s as much a link-up man, channel runner and flick-on machine as he is a penalty box poacher. He contested way more aerial duels (14) than any other forward in Gameweek 7, with United going direct.
Saturday’s goal was his only shot of the game, indeed, and it came from a set play – but for the second week running, he at least showed a knack of being in the right place at the right time.
Above: Sesko’s touch heatmap on Saturday
Mount, Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m) should benefit from his presence, running beyond their new teammate onto those touches.
“To score the goals, to give us a different type of profile inside the box, to use more crosses because he’s going to improve the connection with his teammates. How many times [did] Senne kick the ball, [and] he was there to give the first touch? That is more important. Especially in this league, that we are thinking, when there is a throw-in, we have an extra guy that is really big, especially at the first post.” – Ruben Amorim on what Benjamin Sesko’s appeal is
Sesko may start entering into FPL managers’ thoughts as we enter the busy fixture season. United being out of Europe and the EFL Cup means fewer midweek commitments and less chance of rotation, so he’s a name to perhaps be considering when we get closer to December.
LAMMENS DEBUT
There was a summer signing (largely) impressing at the other end of the field, too, with Senne Lammens (£5.0m) handed his debut.
Talk about the bar being low for expectations: the new arrival received cheers for basics such as claiming crosses (something he did well), which shows you the depths Lammens’ predecessors have plummeted.
He made three routine saves and delivered two bonus points but Sunderland didn’t overly test him, so while he looked confident on his Premier League bow, we’ll save judgment for bigger tests to come.
There was one moment of near-madness in the second half, indeed, when he came hurtling out of his box to meet Bertrand Traore (£5.5m) and missed the ball.
“Yeah, I think he looks confident in the first game but the important thing is that the teammates help Senne to have a good game because everyone was focused, not a lot of mistakes, against a team that was really comfortable playing football. So, we did well, [it] was a good day for us.” – Ruben Amorim on Senne Lammens
MORE POINTS-DODGING FROM BRUNO
Another ‘nearly’ game for Fernandes, whose season of points-dodging continues.
There are the two penalty misses, of course; had those been converted, he’d likely be second in the midfielders’ points standings right now.
Even aside from the spot-kicks, however, he’s still underachieving his expected goal involvement (xGI) by -1.65 this campaign.
Above: Bruno is the biggest xGI underachiever of the season
Fernandes’ latest near-miss came in the first half against Sunderland when his brilliant curling shot was tipped onto the bar. He should have had an assist in that moment if nothing else, as Amad Diallo (£6.3m) headed a sitter of a rebound wide.
Bruno finished the game on three shots and as many chances created.
And what about DefCon? Bruno was left marooned on 11 clearances, blocks, interceptions, recoveries and tackles (CBIRTs) after full-time on Saturday. That had happened twice before in 2025/26.
Owners were sure they’d spotted another CBIRT in the dying stages… only for him to be marked down to nine by Opta the following day. Miserable.
LE BRIS GETS IT WRONG?
This was a rare off-day for Sunderland, who had been competitive in all of their previous games.
Manager Regis Le Bris may have to take some of the blame: he changed both wingers for this match and weakened the midfield by moving Enzo Le Fee (£4.9m), who had been solid on the left flank in previous weeks, into the middle.
Le Bris saw the error of his ways and hooked one of his wide-men, Simon Adingra (£5.3m), before half-time. Dan Ballard (£4.6m) came in and hoovered up the DefCon as the Mackems moved to a back five.
“I don’t think it’s just a question of one player. It’s never the case. It was the question of main dynamic of the team. It wasn’t efficient and it was probably really important to change something, otherwise the score could have been different.” – Regis Le Bris on his early substitution
Expect the impressive Le Bris to right those wrongs in Gameweek 8 and Sunderland to be a force again when Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Wearside.
The attack didn’t do much on Saturday: Traore missed a sitter early on but was flagged for offside anyway, while Chemsdine Talbi (£5.0m) saw a late big chance saved.
There was some more DefCon joy for the usual suspects, however.
Above: Sunderland players to hit the DefCon threshold in Gameweek 7
Granit Xhaka (£5.0m) is joint-second among midfielders for DefCon points (eight), behind only Josh Cullen (£5.0m, 10).
Nordi Mukiele (£4.0m), meanwhile, has failed to hit the DefCon threshold in only one of his five starts – and even then, he was only one away from a 100% record.
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