Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa was full of praise for the job done by Regis Le Bris and Sunderland in 2025/26.
The newly promoted side proved a very tough outfit to play against and subsequently went on to finish seventh, which brought with it a spot in the UEFA Europa League.
“I think they did an amazing season, and they proved that the Premier League is very competitive, and you never know,” Arbeloa said.
“I think there are many, many teams now here in the Premier League that you can think that maybe they have the chance to play in Europe. So, it's not going to be easy for anyone.
“But we are so, so ambitious, so now the only thing that we want is to improve every day, keep working, and we will see where we are in May.
“They play at home and, for us, it will be a really difficult game against a European team. They did a great season last year.
“We know away games are always very difficult here in the Premier League, so we need to play with the same character, same mentality, that we did at home, but it won't be easy for us.”
Arbeloa featured twice at the Stadium of Light during his time as a Liverpool player, and when asked what sort of atmosphere he’s anticipating on Sunday, he replied: “The same as when I played there so many years ago.
“Like I say, when you play away, it's always difficult because of the atmosphere, and the home team feel the confidence and they want to play in front of their fans and in front of their supporters.
“So, for us, if we want to play in the way that we want to play, we need to do very well, [be] very aggressive.
“Obviously, they have players with a lot of quality. Their three midfielders are top, top players, so we know that they want to take the ball, also keep the ball, and I think it will be a really interesting game.”