PREVIEW: Everton host Sunderland in all-topflight FA Cup bout

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·10 gennaio 2026

PREVIEW: Everton host Sunderland in all-topflight FA Cup bout

Two teams with a combined seven FA Cup titles clash on Saturday lunchtime, as Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to face David Moyes’ Everton, with both sides reeling from disappointing results in the league.

Everton have been hot and cold throughout this season, leading to them sitting in 12th in the Premier League following just one win in six games. Those string of results included a 4-2 drubbing at the hands of Brentford last week and a disappointing 1-1 draw with last place Wolves in their most recent fixture, a game in which centre half Michael Keane and winger Jack Grealish were both sent off.

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The poor results at home have been a constant for Moyes and his side all season in their maiden campaign at their new ground; the Toffees have won just four times at the Hill Dickinson Stadium all season, those coming against Brighton, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Fulham.

However, Everton have historically had good fortune in the FA Cup. Back-to-back quarter-finalists in 2021 and 2022, the Toffees boast a proud history in the world’s oldest cup competition, having won it five times, putting them in the top 10 of the most successful sides in the competition’s history. Everton have also reached the final on 13 occasions, putting them in the top five for that category. However, last year’s match up didn’t replicate the successes of old as they bowed out to Bournemouth in the fourth round with a 2-0 defeat at home.

The side hoping to inflict similar woes on the Toffees this time round is Sunderland. Promoted via the play-offs in May, Le Bris’ side have had a fantastic first season back in the topflight. Sitting in 10th and just three points away from fifth in January, the Black Cats have a side based on defensive solidity and gritty determination that has served them well in the first half of the season. However, a heavy defeat away at Brentford put a thorn in their side. The defeat was their first since early December.

During Sunderland’s eight seasons in the EFL, the FA Cup was treated with marginal priority by each and every manager to come through the doors at the Stadium of Light and this is shown in the side’s recent results. Sunderland have only gone past the third round once since the 2014/15 season, bowing out to sides such as Walsall, Gillingham and Mansfield Town in successive seasons. Despite their recent woes, Sunderland do boast a proud history in the competition having made the final on four separate occasions while winning the coveted trophy twice, including an historic victory over Leeds United as a second tier side in 1973.

Everton will be without a slew of players for this FA Cup matchup. Keane is suspended curtesy of a red card he picked up against Wolves, while fellow defenders Jarrad Branthwaite and Seamus Coleman are both still unfit to play a part on Saturday. Key attackers Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish are both set to be absent due to a thigh injury and a suspension respectively. The woes continue for the Toffees as Carlos Alcaraz is also thought to be too far away for a chance in tomorrows match while Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye are away on international duty at AFCON.

As for Sunderland, Le Bris will be glad to see the return of Reinildo, Bertrand Traoré, Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku from their journeys in Morocco but will still be without Chemsdine Talbi and Habib Diarra at AFCON. Striker and top-scorer Wilson Isidor has missed the squad for the side’s last two matches however may be fit to start on Saturday after Le Bris played down the Frenchman’s injuries in the press this week. Despite all this, due to the chaotic schedule and constraint on the squad, Le Bris may be disposed to rotate heavily and give bit-part players such as Dan Neil, Luke O’Nien, Anthony Patterson and Romaine Mundle a start as these players have scratched up little minutes this season so far.