Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb match
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Sunderland, unbeaten in the Europa League with seven points, host Dinamo Zagreb at the Stadium of Light.
Dinamo arrive with a caretaker boss after sacking their head coach.
Background
Sunderland are an English Premier League club whose seventh-placed finish in 2025-26 ended a 53-year wait for European qualification; head coach Regis Le Bris, who is French, has them ninth in the 36-team Europa League league phase. Dinamo Zagreb are the Croatian side sitting 18th on four points, and they travel to England after dismissing head coach Mario Kovacevic, who led them to the 2025-26 title, following a 1-0 league loss to NK Rudes. Thursday's game at the Stadium of Light is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs.
How it unfolded
- Aug 28, 2026Sunderland's Europa League league-phase draw is confirmed, including a home fixture against Dinamo Zagreb.
- Oct 8, 2026Dinamo Zagreb announce an allocation of 2,420 away tickets for the Sunderland match at €35, sold online from 12 October.
- Oct 15, 2026Sunderland beat Torreense 2-1 in the Europa League.
- Oct 22, 2026Sunderland draw 1-1 with Lech Poznan in Poland on matchday 3.
- Weekend of Nov 1, 2026Sunderland lose 3-1 at Coventry City in the Premier League, leaving them bottom with five points after nine matchweeks; Dinamo Zagreb lose 1-0 to NK Rudes and terminate Mario Kovacevic's contract, with reserve-team boss Jerko Leko taking caretaker charge for the next two games.
- Nov 3, 2026A Sports Mole preview is published; Dinamo's Scott McKenna is ruled out with a back strain.
- Nov 5, 2026Europa League league-phase matchday 4: Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb at the Stadium of Light, 20:00 UK time.
Key terms
- Europa League
- An annual European club football competition organized by UEFA, the second tier below the Champions League.
- league phase
- The opening stage of a UEFA club competition in which all teams play a single league table to decide who advances.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- TNT Sports and Sports Mole both predict a 2-1 Sunderland win, with Sports Mole calling Dinamo clear underdogs.
- Analysts
- FourFourTwo and Football.com favour Sunderland more strongly, predicting 2-0; Football.com puts Sunderland's chances at 65%.
- Bulls
- ToffeeWeb picks Sunderland to win at 1.47 on 1xBet, while the Racing Post's best bet is a Draw-Sunderland double result at 7-2, with Sky Bet pricing Sunderland 4-9, the draw 7-2 and Dinamo 5-1.
Still unverified
Regis Le Bris's position as Sunderland head coach is reported to be safe, with the club hierarchy said to retain full confidence in him despite the side sitting bottom of the Premier League.