Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has pointed to his side’s “belief” as one of the key reasons for their positive season thus far.
The Black Cats are currently eighth in the Premier League, level on points with seventh-place Brentford, who they face at the Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday.
Sunderland remained four points off the Champions League places after they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Tottenham on the weekend, courtesy of a powerful strike from Brian Brobbey.
They have also come back from a goal down to beat Chelsea and draw against Arsenal in the 2025-26 campaign.
Le Bris praised his side’s resilience and the attitude of their substitutes after their stalemate with Spurs.
“It’s a question of belief,” said Le Bris.
Granit Xhaka, Sunderland AFC Captain. pic.twitter.com/MVmjrlQyeF
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 5, 2026
“When you can turn a game around like that, it gives you confidence for the future because you know you can do it again.
“We’ve shown many times that it’s possible, and that belief is always in our minds.
“The bench helped us once again because we need our finishers. Sometimes we need one, two, or three, and they helped a lot.”
Brentford are unbeaten in their last five matches in the league after they beat Everton 4-2 on Sunday.
Igor Thiago scored a hat-trick in the victory at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, marking his first goals in the league since a win over Burnley at the end of November.
“It’s a very good feeling,” said the Brazilian striker.
“I’m happy for my performance and to get the three points from a tough game.
“Everyone supports me, everyone believes in me, so thank you to my team-mates, the staff and the fans as well.
“It means so much to me. It means they [fans] support me, they believe in me, they trust me, and they push me, so I’m really happy when they sing my name and when they support me.”
Good Morning pic.twitter.com/Hwb1Fprmrn
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) January 5, 2026
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brentford – Igor Thiago
Thiago has scored 14 Premier League goals this season for Brentford, just one short of the most by a Brazilian player in a single campaign in the competition (15).
That record was previously set by three players: Roberto Firmino in 2017-18, Gabriel Martinelli in 2022-23, and Matheus Cunha in 2024-25.
Sunderland – Brian Brobbey
Adding to his strikes against Arsenal and Bournemouth earlier in the season, Brobbey now has three goals to his name in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old is already one goal short of equalling his Eredivisie tally from 2024-25, when he scored four times in 30 appearances.
MATCH PREDICTION – BRENTFORD WIN
This is just the second time Brentford have hosted Sunderland in a league game in the 21st century, following a 3-3 draw in the Championship in October 2017.
Brentford have earned 34 points from a possible 39 at home against promoted clubs in the Premier League (W11 D1 L1). The exceptions were a 2-1 loss to Norwich City in November 2021 and a 1-1 draw with Leeds United last month.
And Brentford have won six of their 10 home Premier League matches this season (D3 L1) under new manager Keith Andrews. It is the most wins by a Bees manager in his first 10 home league games since Mark Warburton won nine of his first 10 in 2013-14 in League One.
Following their 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light in August, Sunderland are looking to complete their first league double over Brentford since 1987-88 in the third tier.
However, Sunderland have drawn each of their last four Premier League games, and could become the first side to draw five in a row in the competition since Fulham from December 2020 to January 2021.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brentford – 57.6%
Draw – 22%
Sunderland – 20.4%
