Sky Sports and Premier League face false advertising lawsuits over Sunderland and Leeds fare

In terms of metaphors, the sight of rubbish all over the pitch at the Stadium of Light was a strong one.

The litter intermittently swirling around this corner of the north east came to symbolise the aimless, expensive, wasteful fare between Sunderland and Leeds on Stupor Sunday.

The weekend-closing 4:30pm slot does have a tendency to disappoint, but this ventured into something far more existentially depressing, 90 minutes of evidence in a false advertising case against Sky Sports and even the judicially-occupied Premier League itself.

This was neither ‘Super’ nor ‘Premier’ in the slightest. In four successive seasons sharing a division, Sunderland and Leeds have met seven times and produced a respectable enough 11 goals. But seven of those came in their respective 2024/25 promotion campaigns. Beyond that, their scorelines have been specifically designed to send a despairing message in binary code.

For all the entertainment that can be derived from simply watching Brian Brobbey, this was appointment viewing only in the sense that we had collectively mustered the courage to arrange it and felt obliged to attend.

The conditions, it should be said, were ever so slightly sub-optimal.

When, after 82 of the blusteriest minutes imaginable, the otherwise imperious Luke O’Nien had both teams prepare for a long throw-in which was subsequently blown off-course and straight out for a goal kick by a strong gust, it did not inspire confidence that two teams who lean heavily on keeping the ball in the clouds will be able to adjust to a more ground-based approach.

Leeds have won the most aerial duels of any Premier League team this season, with Sunderland not far behind. But with that route largely removed – Tarik Muharemovic’s second-half effort from a corner was the only headed shot of note – neither team had much else to offer.

Sunderland and Leeds were caught in the eye of a literal storm and had no answer.

They combined for the fewest penalty area touches in the first half of any Premier League game this season (10). Sunderland completed 74 per cent of their passes – and were the more composed of the two sides on the ball in comparison to Leeds (72 per cent). Even the remarkably mild boos at full time were did not carry in the wind.

That whistle really should have provoked the game’s loudest cheer. Instead, that was reserved for the rare sight of Chemsdine Talbi with little over ten minutes remaining.

The Moroccan had seemingly been ostracised by Regis Le Bris, not featuring in the Premier League since a half-hour cameo on the opening weekend, and seeing a Carabao Cup third-round start and goal against Hull go entirely unrewarded.

The celebration at his introduction was thus at least partly ironic, and almost immediately Talbi had Jaka Bijol backtracking before the Leeds centre-half blocked the shot.

Daniel Farke could have sent his own seemingly imprisoned, young, exciting, mercurial forward on in response, but the fans yearning for Jean-Matteo Bahoya perhaps overlooked how incompatible the 21-year-old to the game at hand.

It didn’t really suit anyone, beyond connoisseurs of inevitable goalless draws. And, to be fair, James Trafford.