Sunderland vs West Ham United: Kick-off time and how to watch
Sunderland make their return to the Premier League after an eight-year absence and take on West Ham in the opening game of the season.
Regis Le Bris guided the Black Cats to promotion after an impressive campaign in the Championship.
Sunderland beat Sheffield United in the play-off final at Wembley and will now aim to finish 17th or higher to avoid returning to the second tier.
Sunderland vs West Ham will be played on Saturday afternoon
Le Bris’ side will play host to West Ham at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, 16 August, at 3 pm BST.
The new season begins on Friday night as Liverpool take on Bournemouth, so the Black Cats play on the second day of the campaign.
| Player | Former Club | Fee |
| Habib Diarra | Strasbourg | £30m |
| Simon Adingra | Brighton | £21m |
| Enzo Le Fee | AS Roma | £20m |
| Chemsdine Talbi | Club Brugge | £19.5m |
| Noah Sadiki | Union Saint-Gilloise | £17.75m |
| Granit Xhaka | Bayer Leverkusen | £17.3m |
| Robin Roefs | NEC Nijmegen | £11.5m |
| Reinildo Mandava | Atletico Madrid | Free |
| Arthur Masuaku | Besiktas | Free |
| Marc Guiu | Chelsea | Loan |
They have signed a number of players this summer and spent £137.05million to give themselves the best chance of staying in the Premier League.
Granit Xhaka has joined Sunderland to offer Premier League experience while Habib Diarra and Simon Adingra have arrived on big transfer fees.
West Ham, on the other hand, have had a modest summer spend and signed just four new first-team players despite finishing 14th last season.
How to watch: channel and stream
The contest between the Black Cats and the Hammers will not be shown live on TV due to the 3 pm blackout.
Sky Sports, the official Premier League broadcasters, will share highlights of the game after full-time on their social media channels.
Both sides will also upload their own highlights packages on their channels in the UK in the days after the game.
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