Struggling Sunderland face a tricky test against a Leeds United side that have made themselves very hard to beat. BBC Sport takes a look at some of the key themes going into Sunday's game at the Stadium of Light.

Bottom-of-the-table Sunderland only need to look at Leeds for an example of how to turn around a poor start to a Premier League season. Daniel Farke's position became precarious after the Whites accrued only 11 points from their opening 13 matches of 2025-26.

A now famous tactical tweak in defeat by Manchester City proved to be the catalyst that has since turned them into one of the top flight's hardest teams to beat, with only six losses in 32 matches since.

The Black Cats have dropped to the foot of the table after earning just four points from seven games, their lowest tally at this stage of a league season since 2016-17, when they had two and went on to finish bottom.

Having had the misfortune to face Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton, hopes were high a fixture against winless Bournemouth would be the perfect tonic. But a calamitous afternoon ended in a flattering 2-0 defeat and meant that they had been beaten in four successive league matches by a two-goal margin. The last time they lost five league games in a row by two or more goals was 96 years ago.

The Cherries recorded their highest xG in a Premier League match of 4.32, mustering 29 shots against an error-ridden backline that never looked comfortable and had Kevin Danso sent off after just 17 minutes.

"It's always a different player every time [making mistakes], so it is hard to fix," said boss Regis le Bris afterwards.

Last season, they had the fourth-best defence in the top flight and conceded just 1.26 goals per game, but that has rocketed to 2.0 per match, with only Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town letting in more.

A draw with Manchester United is not normally to be sniffed at, but such is Leeds' confidence and form they were left frustrated they didn't secure all three points against their bitter rivals.

While being hard to beat is obviously a huge positive, turning one point into three is something that will be top of Farke's to-do list. His team have drawn 13 of their 27 league fixtures in 2026, the most of any top-flight side.

One man they have certainly been able to rely on is in-form striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. His equaliser against Manchester United was his 17th top-flight strike since 29 November last year, a tally only Manchester City's Erling Haaland can beat. However, Farke said on Friday Calvert-Lewin is a doubt for Sunday with a bruised foot.

Leeds have another chance to shed their Super Sunday curse - in eight attempts, they have never won a Premier League game in the prime 16:.30 slot.

In another quirk, their draw with Manchester United extended their winless run in games that have kicked off before 15:00 to 21, the longest such streak in the Premier League.

Good job, then, that the Whites have come alive at night, with an incredible 49% of their points over the past two seasons earned from games at 20:00 or later.