Sunderland travel to Tottenham, having begun 2026 with an impressive performance in their 0-0 draw with Manchester City. Spurs also drew their last game 0-0 at Brentford, leaving them 13th in the Premier League table and six places below their visitors ahead of the weekend fixtures. Here is the latest team news for both sides, along with their predicted lineups.
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Tottenham Hotspur vs Sunderland: Team News and Predicted Lineups for January 4th
Tottenham Team News
Lucas Bergvall is a doubt, having missed the draw at Brentford with a muscular injury. However, Thomas Frank is hopeful he will be available. Dominic Solanke, who has been missing since August, has returned to light training and could be back by the end of the month.
Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, and Destiny Udogie are long-term injury concerns. Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Xavi Simons serves the final game of his three-match suspension following his red card against Liverpool.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Thomas Frank said this about Bergvall and Solanke. “Lucas Bergvall is a doubt, but we hope he’ll be ready.” On Solanke returning: “The thing I need to know about, of course, is when he’s out there on the pitch with pictures, then that’s positive. To say mid-Jan, end of Jan, or 25 Jan, I will not do that. I will very much look forward to naming the dates when he’s involved in the squad.”
Sunderland Team News
Dan Ballard has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, but could return to the squad and possibly make the substitutes bench. Long-term absentee Aji Alese has returned to training, but is still some way off from returning. Brian Brobbey came off in the game against Manchester City but is expected to be part of the squad; however, he may have to settle for a place on the bench.
Habbib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemdine Talbi, Reinildo, Noah Sadiki, and Arthur Masuaku are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said in this pre-match press conference that he is expecting another tough challenge. “We are expecting another tough challenge in a great stadium. It’s exciting for the squad, but we have to recover quickly after Thursday’s game against Manchester City.”
“Thomas Frank is a great manager who has worked at a high level for a long period of time. They have many good players and are well organised, but probably a bit inconsistent. We can’t expect gifts from them, so let’s focus on ourselves. Football is so unpredictable, so the most important thing is for us to play our game.”