Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb: Bottom of the league, unbeaten in Europe, and Dinamo have just lost their coach

Sunderland are bottom of the Premier League and unbeaten in Europe, and on Thursday night they meet a Dinamo Zagreb side who sacked their head coach on Sunday.

That is the odd shape of this Europa League game at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland have five points from nine league games, but seven from three in Europe, and a win here would put them in a strong position to reach the knockout rounds in their first European campaign for 53 years.

Dinamo Zagreb arrive in a mess of their own. Mario Kovačević left by mutual consent after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Rudeš, a year after winning the Croatian league and cup double, and former Dinamo B coach Jerko Leko takes charge for the first time on Wearside.

When is Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb?

Date: Thursday 5 November 2026

Kick-off: 8pm UK time

Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Competition: UEFA Europa League, league phase, matchday four

Who is the referee?

UEFA had not confirmed the match officials when we checked on Tuesday afternoon. Whoever gets the whistle, Sunderland’s discipline is worth watching: Omar Alderete was sent off for a second booking in the last seconds at Coventry, and Kevin Danso saw red inside 17 minutes at Bournemouth last month.

Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb team news

Sunderland

Nordi Mukiele will not play. The defender suffered concussion in an accidental clash with Luke O’Nien in the goalless draw with Leeds, missed the trip to Coventry and is still going through the protocols, though Regis Le Bris hopes to have him back for Chelsea on Sunday.

Habib Diarra is a major doubt with a muscle problem picked up in training before Coventry, only just after he had returned from a hamstring injury. Dan Ballard (hamstring) and Romaine Mundle (knee surgery) are still out, with Mundle not expected back until around the turn of the year.

The good news is Alderete. His red card at Coventry means a ban for the Chelsea game, not this one, so he is free to play on Thursday. Danso and O’Nien are both available too.

Dinamo Zagreb

Leko has his own problems at the back. Scott McKenna has a muscle injury expected to keep him out for a few weeks, and Stjepan Radeljić has a sprained finger. Fran Topić has been ill, and playmaker Dani Rodríguez is a doubt with a muscle problem.

Dion Drena Beljo, the club’s top scorer with 12 league goals, is fit to lead the line.

Can Sunderland’s Europe form survive their league form?

This is the question that sits over Le Bris. Sunderland beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at home, won 2-1 at Torreense with Noah Sadiki’s 93rd-minute winner and drew 1-1 at Lech Poznań. In the league, though, they have one win all season, and Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Coventry left them 20th and booed off by their own fans.

The club’s board is still backing the head coach, and Le Bris has made the case for patience himself. “First year in Europe, you know you will have on average 10 less points,” he said. “It’s our reality.” We set out why that argument only goes so far in our look at whether Le Bris should survive the Coventry defeat, but a third European win in four would at least give him something real to point to before Chelsea.

The problems are clear enough. Sunderland had 17 shots at Coventry and only two on target, and their errors keep turning into goals. Against Brentford in the League Cup last week, with Chemsdine Talbi at number 10, Malick Fofana scoring his first goal for the club and Jocelin Ta Bi making three assists, they looked a different side. Le Bris benched most of that group three days later. Thursday is the chance to go back to it.

How have Dinamo got here?

Dinamo dropped into the Europa League after losing 5-3 on aggregate to Viking in the Champions League play-off. Their league phase has been short on goals: a 0-0 draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Bucharest, a 1-0 home win over Anderlecht settled by Beljo’s stoppage-time penalty, then a 4-2 home defeat by NEC Nijmegen on 22 October.

That leaves them on four points, three behind Sunderland. At home they are second in the Croatian league, four points behind Hajduk Split with a game in hand, and Kovačević’s exit was agreed the day after the Rudeš defeat.

A new man in the dugout can lift a side for a game or two. It can also leave them short of a plan, and Leko is only in charge for the next two matches, so this is a holding job rather than a fresh start.

Who decides this one?

Brian Brobbey

The striker signed a new deal on Tuesday that keeps him at the club until 2031, and he has 10 goals in 38 Premier League games since arriving from Ajax. He has only just come back from a hamstring injury, but this is the sort of night Sunderland need a focal point. “I want to score goals, help the team and give our fans something to be proud of,” he said after signing.

Director of football Florent Ghisolfi was just as clear: “Brian has important qualities, and we believe there is much more to come from him.” Starting Thursday would be a good time to show it.

Granit Xhaka

The captain was the most honest voice after Coventry. “Every weekend we are making the same mistakes and every weekend we are getting punished,” he said. Sunderland need his control in midfield more than ever with Diarra missing, and he has to set the tempo against a Dinamo side who will sit and wait for errors.

Dion Drena Beljo

Dinamo’s only goal in their first two European games came from his penalty, and he scored 38 times in all competitions last season. At 6ft 5in he will test a Sunderland defence that keeps giving goals away, and Everton’s January interest in him (Dinamo have already turned down €20m) tells you how highly he is rated.

Sunderland vs Dinamo Zagreb predicted lineups

We expect Le Bris to bring Talbi and Fofana into the side after their League Cup goals, with Alderete starting before his ban. Reinildo Mandava, who started at left-back at Coventry, keeps his place, and Brobbey leads the line. A specialist right winger is still the gap in this squad, as we covered in our piece on the Marseille winger Sunderland bid for in the summer.

Sunderland predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Roefs; Hume, O’Nien, Alderete, Reinildo; Sadiki, Xhaka; Talbi, Le Fee, Fofana; Brobbey

For Dinamo, Moris Valinčić should come into the back four with McKenna and Radeljić missing, while Gabriel Vidović could come in if Rodríguez is not fit.

Dinamo Zagreb predicted lineup (4-1-4-1): Kotarski; Valinčić, Galešić, Domínguez, Pérez Vinlöf; Mišić; Hoxha, Stojković, Zajc, Vidović; Beljo

Our prediction

Sunderland have looked a different team in Europe, and Dinamo come in with a caretaker, a stretched defence and two defeats in their last three games. Beljo will cause problems, and Sunderland will probably give him a chance or two with their own mistakes.

But we think the Stadium of Light carries them through. Talbi gives them the spark they have been missing, and Brobbey marks his new deal with a goal.

Prediction: Sunderland 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb