Pundits Shay Given and Theo Walcott join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.
And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:
Neil Johnston
BBC Sport journalist
Sunderland have rightly earned plaudits for the way they have adapted to life in the top flight since winning the Championship play-off final.
After sweeping aside West Ham on the opening weekend of the season, they have also defeated Brentford and secured a point at FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
But Sunday's performance will have pleased boss Regis le Bris just as much as anything he has seen from his players so far this season as his players found a way to secure a draw despite playing for so long with 10 players.
Sunderland showed an abundance of resilience and determination, and actually looked the better team after full-back Reinildo's dismissal.
Despite falling behind, they showed character to equalise through French striker Wilson Isidor's third goal of the season - all at the Stadium of Light.
It was a gutsy performance by Sunderland who, despite a busy summer in the transfer market, look at home in the Premier League, with this point adding to their growing early season momentum.
Regis Le Bris spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Sunderland's draw against Aston Villa: "The value of this one is really important because we had different experiences today.
"We started really well 11 v 11, we were in our gameplan, well connected with the opportunities and were in a good place.
"Then the red card came - but the team reacted really well. It was important to stay 0-0 and then at half-time we decided on a new game plan.
"They did really well with the deep block and it became a set-piece game. Then after we conceded we reacted well again. The way we want to play together, to react, to suffer, we knew this would be the case often."
Did you know?
Sunderland are only the third newly promoted team in the last seven Premier League seasons (since 2019-20) to win as many as eight points from their opening five games of the campaign (W2 D2 L1) alongside Brentford in 2021-22 and Fulham in 2022-23 (both also eight).
Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.
Have your say on Sunderland's performance
What did you make of Aston Villa's display?
Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies
Sunderland make two changes to the side that started the goalless draw at Crystal Palace last weekend.
Chris Rigg makes his first league start of the season, while summer signing Enzo Le Fee also returns to the starting XI. Habib Diarra is injured and not involved, while Simon Adingra drops to the bench.
Sunderland XI: Roefs, Hume, Ballard, Alderete, Mandava, Rigg, Xhaka, Sadiki, Talbi, Isidor, Le Fee.
Youri Tielemans is not involved at all for Aston Villa.
Summer signing Evann Guessand returns to the starting XI, while Boubacar Kamara is also back in the starting XI.
Lamare Bogarde drops to the bench,
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Guessand, Kamara, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.
There are three games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.
Bournemouth v Newcastle (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Sunderland v Aston Villa (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live
Arsenal v Manchester City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live
Kick-off times BST
Follow all of the action and reaction here to the 14:00 games here
And find Arsenal v Man City here
You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Sunderland v Aston Villa" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Arsenal v Man City", for instance.
Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds
I haven't backed Sunderland to win yet this season and a few of their fans have been hammering me on social media because they have made a really good start.
But I'm not just going to back them to win for the sake of it, even against an Aston Villa side who are short of form and confidence and cannot even score a goal at the minute either.
Instead, I'm going to say that Villa will come good and Ollie Watkins will not just get his first goal of the season but he will also secure their first win too.
Apologies again to Sunderland fans for that, they can hammer me again this week if I'm wrong.
Sutton's prediction: 0-2
Sunderland look to continue their impressive start to life back in the top-flight against goal-shy Aston Villa. BBC Sport takes a look at the key talking points going into this fixture.
Sunderland's tally of seven points from four matches is their joint best after four games of a Premier League season, while it has been 70 years since they last accrued more points at this stage of a top-flight campaign (assuming three points for a win).
Another victory would see them start a top-flight season with three straight home victories for the first time since 1965-66. Remarkably, it would also match their tally of victories at the Stadium of Light across the whole of their last Premier League campaign in 2016-17.
Although they failed to have a shot on target in their creditable goalless draw at Crystal Palace, they have scored five goals from just nine shots on target in league matches this season with only Arsenal (64%) converting a higher share than the Black Cats' 56%.
Matters at the other end of the pitch have been equally as encouraging, with two clean sheets in four games matching their tally in their previous 14 Premier League matches combined.
Crucial to that has been new signing Robin Roefs. The 22-year-old Dutch keeper has taken to the English top flight superbly and he prevented an expected 1.59 goals at Selhurst Park.
The dark clouds continue to form over Aston Villa after their EFL Cup exit on penalties at Brentford on Tuesday. They did at least find the back of the net for the first time this season, but their drought in the league stretches to 466 minutes and 49 shots.
For the first time in their history, they have failed to score in their opening four league games to a season. Failing to do so once again at the Stadium of Light would see them become just the third team in top-flight history to begin a campaign goalless in their first five league games, after Ipswich Town in 1970-71 and Crystal Palace in 2017-18.
Unai Emery's side have actually had more shots after four games than Sunderland, as well as Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Brentford and Crystal Palace. Some of their attacking metrics are also up on their excellent 2024-25 campaign, but despite getting the ball into the box more often, things are just not clicking. Their xG of 2.97 is the second worst in the top flight.
Alex Fletcher
BBC Sport journalist
Sunderland boss Regis le Bris has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Stadium of Light (kick-off 14:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Le Bris confirmed that Enzo le Fee and Dan Ballard are available for selection. However, Luke O'Nien remains "a few more weeks away" from full fitness.
Le Bris said new signings Brian Brobbery and Bertrand Traore must "train with the team and get to know everyone". Then they can be considered for a starting spot based off the "strengths we'll need for this game".
He likes that the summer arrivals have increased the competition upfront: "If we only play one striker, they will all fight for the position. Probably two of the three are able to play on the wings as well. Eli [Mayenda] and Wilson [Isidor] can play as a nine or on the wing as well, so we might need them to do that in different circumstances."
He added that this is important for his side's progression: "Even if it's not always easy to accept, we need competition for places - that is the reality. They all need to push each other."
In terms of points, he said he did not "want to fix a limit" in preparation for the next few games but that he liked "the mindset of the squad".
While he acknowledged Villa's poor start to the season, Le Bris said his side would not "underestimate" their opponents.
He added: "I don't know if it's the right time to play Villa. They're a strong team. They haven't started well - that's obvious - but they're a top-six team. If they are a bit weaker then maybe that's better for us. We won't get gifts from them, so we have to be at our best."
Full news conference available over here on BBC Sounds
Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news
Listen to full commentary of Sunderland v Aston Villa on BBC Radio 5 Live from 14:00 BST on Sunday
Image source, Getty ImagesRegis le Bris was likely to take a pragmatic approach after promotion and "that's exactly what we've seen", believes Sunderland Echo journalist Phil Smith.
Speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle, Smith says the Black Cats' boss has learned from the experiences of other clubs and that has helped Sunderland make a solid start.
"I didn't think we'd see him make the same mistakes a lot of coaches make when they want to come up to the Premier League and prove a point," Smith said.
"Credit to the recruitment. They've targeted athletic players who can cope with the physicality of the Premier League. I felt we would be a well-organised team and have a good structure.
"I think that's what we've seen. It hasn't necessarily been sparkling -- we haven't necessarily been creating lots of chances.
"You can see there's been a lot of work gone in to trying to understand why the last six teams who have been promoted have gone straight back down again and I think that's why we've seen Sunderland be a lot more flexible in this transfer window.
"I'm not getting carried away I still think it's going to be tight and there's going to be some difficult days ahead but there's real fight in this team. I have a lot of trust that Le Bris will keep the team solid.
"They've got a good chance of staying up but I'm not changing my expectations, I still think this is going to be a tough season at times."
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle about goalkeeper Robin Roefs' performance against Crystal Palace: "Palace had some chances and the goalkeeper did very well. He really impressed me, but they were all saves that you would have been disappointed if he conceded.
"He is very still - if you watch him, he is not one of these keepers that skips and jumps about when the ball is in motion. When the ball is going into a striker, he stays still so he can make his move when he's ready, when he sees the body angle of the striker or where he thinks the ball is going to go. He makes good reaction saves.
"It has been a great start for him. Defensively, the team are pretty solid. A fantastic start to the season and the fans must be delighted with how it is going. Everyone has attributed themselves really well."
Gavin Henderson
Fan writer
Image source, Getty ImagesI do not think you will find too many Sunderland supporters that are disappointed with the performance and result that we got from our team at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Palace have not lost in 15 games now and it shows why when you see how well organised they are, both in and out of possession. They are going to do well this season, despite losing an important player in Eberechi Eze, and the fact that Sunderland gave as good as they got gives me immense confidence in where we appear to be heading.
There was a quote from Granit Xhaka doing the rounds on the club's social media the day before the game that I just can't get out of my head. "Back at it tomorrow. No excuses. We go for the win." Of course, we did not win, but that comment has really stuck with me because it reminded me that we have got a player in Xhaka who has only ever known what it feels like to win.
Indeed, he said upon arriving at Sunderland that he felt it necessary to experience struggle in his playing career if he is going to go on and become a coach one day - and that the standards have been raised considerably because of his presence in the side.
Much has been made about the relegations suffered by the past six promoted teams, but Sunderland do not seem to care about all of that and are not acting anything like a newly promoted team. At Palace we looked unbelievably organised, as we always have done under Regis Le Bris, but with a group of players who are not here to mess around.
There will not be many teams that go to Selhurst Park this season and get a clean sheet, never mind a draw, so I am delighted with how we played and how we achieved the result.
Palace had the better chances, but we invested in top defensive players to give ourselves the best chance of achieving results like this on the road. Nordi Mukiele looked every bit the quality of player you expect when you sign someone from Paris St-Germain, while Robin Roefs was imperious in goal and is already vindicating the decision to spend big money to bring him here. He is magnificent and it scares me that he is this good after just one season of senior football - how good is he going to be in a few years from now?
It is all good stuff. To be sat with seven points from four games, with two clean sheets to boot, is magnificent and is exactly the sort of start to life we needed in the Premier League to give ourselves a platform to kick on from here.
Find more from Gavin Henderson at Roker Report, external
We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Crystal Palace and Sunderland.
Here are some of your comments:
Palace fans
Jerry: We had enough chances to win the game, but I was a little underwhelmed with our performance to be honest. We had our moments, but we were too slow from the back in our build-up play. We missed Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton. Two points lost.
Glen: I thought the players put in a decent shift and had enough good chances to win, however, the goalkeeper had a very good game. My concerns come from the manager's insistence in slogging the same players when on the bench we have some very good forwards. Saturday was dying for a winger to come on but did the usual changes, nothing against Justin Devenny but Romain Esse is what we needed.
Jason: Felt like a match we should have won, but in fairness to Sunderland they set up well to manage the match. We lacked a bit up front to really push on and win, so overall probably a fair result. Liked Christantus Uche and his impact, more to come!
Bob: We were unlucky not to win this game as we came closest to scoring. Yeremy Pino had a great first game at Selhurst Park but we missed Sarr and Wharton. Still unbeaten this season, so it's not all bad!
Sunderland fans
David: Excellent defensive performance and I'd have taken a point if offered before the game, so excellent result.
Charlie: Looked very comfortable first half and possibly had the best chance when Chemsdine Talbi tried to control the ball instead of hitting it first time. Robin Roefs was superb in the later stages and kept us in the game but we need a striker and Wilson Isidor is better coming off the bench. But another point and we look fine to me.
Scott: Great point away from home. Shame we couldn't snatch all three points. As long we keep picking up wins at the Stadium of Light, we will comfortably survive.
Paul: An important point that, being realistic, might be very important at the end of the season. We still haven't gelled as a team but seven points from the first 12 is a great start.
Chris Wise
BBC MOTD reporter at Selhurst Park
Image source, Getty ImagesAnother mini milestone in Sunderland's season: a first away point in the Premier League.
It's probably more significant than it seems, not just because they've got it at a very good Crystal Palace side, but also because points on your travels are a precious commodity for newly-promoted teams.
What struck me about Sunderland's performance on Saturday was how measured they looked in possession. They didn't create enough, and boss Regis le Bris was quite frank about that when I spoke to him for Match of the Day afterwards. But they carried an air of composure, particularly defensively.
Goalkeeper Robin Roefs was impenetrable, and appears to be an excellent piece of business. The way Nordi Mukiele dealt with Jean-Philippe Mateta is also well worth noting. He made sure his fellow Frenchman just couldn't have his usual, telling impact.
For a team with so many new faces, Sunderland are gelling quickly, and it's impressive.
Pundits Ashley Williams and Shay Given join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.
And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:
Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty ImagesSunderland are yet to find the formula for picking up wins on the road in the Premier League but with be pleased to have picked up a point at Crystal Palace.
The Black Cats have won both home fixtures this term but claimed just a point from two games on the road and looked devoid of ideas against the Eagles.
Regis le Bris side failed to register a single shot on target at Selhurst Park and only earned a share of the points due to a fine performance from goalkeeper Robin Roefs.
The Dutch stopper was called into action several times in the second half to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta, Daichi Kamada, Daniel Munoz and Christantus Uche.
From an attacking point of view, Sunderland were unable to find a foothold as they still search for a first away goal of 2025-26.
A home fixture with struggling Aston Villa, who are yet to score this season, is next on the agenda at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, 21 September.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's draw with Crystal Palace: "This is a really strong place to visit and we did well in the first half, we dominated the ball without many threats.
"In the second half they pushed, that is normal at home but we showed good character and resilience.
"Probably we didn't push enough to create chances. That is probably the next layer of the game.
"You never know but the connection so far is really positive. The players want to work together and enjoy being together. You have to improve every day."
On the performance of goalkeeper Robin Roefs: "He is a really good goalkeeper. We need good players in the squad to be efficient and he had a good game today.
Roefs also added: "From the start we knew what we are capable of. We really fight as a team, we are really happy with our start and it is up to us to continue this.
"We are not just a team who wants to defend, we have some players who are really good with the ball.
"We showed we are really good fighting for each other."
Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.
Have your say on Crystal Palace's performance
What did you make of Sunderland's display?
Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies
Oliver Glasner makes two changes to the side that won at Aston Villa prior to the international break with injured pair Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr dropping out.
Summer signing Yeremy Pino gets his first start with Jefferson Lerma also coming in.
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Munoz, Lacroix, Richards, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Pino, Hughes, Kamada, Mateta.
Subs: Benitez, Clyne, Esse, Sosa, Rodney, Devenny, Cardines, Canvot, Uche.
Regis Le Bris makes two changes from a 2-1 win against Brentford last time out, with Wilson Isidor, who has scored two goals from the bench this season, getting his first start.
Simon Adingra also gets the nod with Eliezer Mayenda dropping to the bench and Enzo Le Fee not named in the squad.
Sunderland XI: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Mandava, Diarra, Xhaka, Sadiki, Talbi, Adingra, Isidor.
Subs: Patterson, Neil, Geertruida, Rigg, Maydena, Traore, Masuaku, Jones, Brobbey.
There are eight games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.
Arsenal v Nottingham Forest (12:30)
Bournemouth v Brighton
Crystal Palace v Sunderland
Everton v Aston Villa - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live
Fulham v Leeds United
Newcastle v Wolves - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
West Ham v Tottenham (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live
Brentford v Chelsea (20:00)
Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated
Follow all of the action and reaction here
You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Everton v Aston Villa" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Newcastle v Wolves", for instance.
Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds
