Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams says his side must take the confidence from their perfect start in the Europa League into Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Sunderland.
The Cherries have won both of their matches in their first-ever continental campaign, but remain without a league victory after six games in 2026-27. They sit in the bottom three before Sunderland visit the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth are eight points worse off than at the same stage last season, when they had 11 points. Sunderland have four points, seven fewer than their tally of 11 after six matches in 2025-26.
Adams believes last weekend’s 5-1 defeat by Chelsea should have made the need for results clear.
“In the beginning, we had some performances where we were saying we were playing well but not getting results,” he said.
“That can only happen for so long. Sometimes having a result like Chelsea is the wake-up call that you need.
“You can be playing as good football as you want, but if you’re not getting three points at the end of it, what does that really mean?
“We had a moment of reflection and talked as a team about how you have to do everything it takes to win.
“I think the reaction was what we needed against Sturm Graz, but now we need to carry that momentum into the weekend.”
Sunderland were also in Europa League action on Thursday, beating Torreense 2-1.
Players to watch
Evanilson has contributed to 57% of Bournemouth’s Premier League goals this season, scoring once and providing three assists.
However, the Brazilian has been on the winning side in only seven of the 21 Premier League matches in which he has scored or assisted. That 33% ratio is the lowest among the 736 players in competition history to have scored or assisted in at least 20 games.
For Sunderland, goalkeeper Robin Roefs will be under scrutiny. The two goalkeepers with the worst goals-prevented differentials in this season’s Premier League are Roefs, at -3.77 after conceding 12 goals from an expected goals on target figure of 8.23, and Bournemouth’s Djordje Petrovic, at -3.71 after conceding 13 from 9.29 xGoT.
Roefs was one of Sunderland’s standout players last season, and manager Regis Le Bris will want him to recover his form quickly.
Match prediction
Bournemouth are rated as the more likely winners, with Opta giving them a 50.3% chance of victory. The probability of a draw is 25.1%, while Sunderland are given 24.6%.
Winless Bournemouth have faced fewer shots than any other Premier League side this season, with 64. It is the lowest total recorded by a team after six games without a win since 2003-04.
Bournemouth have not lost three successive Premier League matches since May 2024. Marco Rose has suffered three consecutive top-flight defeats only twice: four in a row with Borussia Monchengladbach in March 2021 and three with RB Leipzig in January 2024.
Sunderland have lost their past three league games and last endured four consecutive top-flight defeats in December 2015 under Sam Allardyce.
Bournemouth have had a longer winless start to a league season only twice: eight games in the third tier in 1994-95 and nine in the Premier League in 2023-24.
They have won two of their 10 league meetings with Sunderland, drawing three and losing five. Both victories came in the Premier League, in September 2015 and April 2017.
