Sunderland have taken the Premier League 2025/2026 by storm.
The newly promoted Black Cats haven’t just come up to survive in the league; they are competing for European qualification and fear no one, as demonstrated by their brave play and determination in duels.
It cannot be overstated just how significant an achievement it is for Sunderland, who in 2022 were in the 3rd tier of English Football, to now be fourth in the EPL table, having collected the same number of points as Liverpool, the 2024/2025 Champions.
Whether it’s Dan Ballard buccaneering from centre-back into opposition territory, Nordi Mukiele‘s aerial dominance, or Granit Xhaka’s veteran ability to put a pass on an absolute sixpence, the squad is full of surprises.
Led by the calmness of Régis Le Bris, Sunderland have a variety of different ways to approach matches.
It’s not the old-fashioned, low block and counter that you might expect with a side promoted from the EFL Championship.
Sunderland can press high and surprise teams, as Chelsea found out the hard way when Sunderland defeated them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
A SAFC player who scored in that match and is often a terrific outlet for when Sunderland AFC want to go long is Wilson Isidor.
Having spent a lot of time away on loan spells since 2018, Isidor has become a fan favourite and for good reason.
This Wilson Isidor scout report and player analysis aims to go deep into the Sunderland striker’s game to show why that’s the case.
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Wilson Isidor Link-Up & Hold Up Play
Wilson Isidor ticks the boxes of what you want from a modern forward in the Premier League.
It’s a highly physical league, which is why you see top clubs signing players like Nick Woltemade, Bryan Mbeumo, Alexander Isak, and Viktor Gyökeres.
Sure, they can all play with the ball at their feet, but they are all physically imposing, hard to shrug off the ball, or brilliant in the air.
You need technicality and physicality.
Luckily for Sunderland, Isidor has proven that he has both.
It’s not easy for players to replicate their form or the promise they showed in the Championship and translate it to the Premier League.
Still, Wilson Isidor’s link-up play and role as a target man for Sunderland in bypassing the press are making things look simple.
It’s as if the striker is unperturbed by the most physically demanding league.
His game against Nottingham Forest is an example of this.
He likes to play on the shoulder of the striker as he has the pace to run in behind a defensive line and into the channels if needed.
He’s often the lone striker, but this doesn’t stop him from being a threat.
There is a pause in his movement before he latches onto the through ball quicker than the defender, taking him into one corner of the pitch.
At the time of the action, because he is the ‘sole’ threat, it attracts many Forest defenders to his movements.
Isidor then turns and can cut the ball back onto the edge of the penalty area, bringing others into play.
It’s brilliant link-up play as he has the skill and control to attract multiple defenders at once and wait for the movement of others.
Where Isidor does this often, Sunderland don’t commit as many bodies up the pitch as they do when they press high, especially away from home.
This is to ensure that in a rest defence, they have more than enough men in reserve in case an attack breaks down, so they can quell a quick counterattack.
Wilson Isidor’s threat and ability to bring others into the attack make sure that they don’t have to constantly attack with so many players.
He drops deep to receive the ball, meaning defenders follow him, but his quick feet ensure that he can take on a couple of men and play it back to another attacker.
He knows he doesn’t have much time on the ball to be purposeful.
A few neat touches take the ball away from the defence while simultaneously attracting them and dragging them out of position, which he does regularly, followed by finding a teammate.
As mentioned previously, there is a slight pause just before he receives the ball.
This is to quickly check and fool the defender closest to him.
Once again, against Everton, it was the same scenario as the lone striker, with the only player occupying the Toffees defence centrally.
The entire back four were not marking or tracking anyone in the middle of the pitch apart from Isidor.
As he quickly came short to lay the ball off, it allows for other players to pin and drag Everton markers.
Whilst this happened, Isidor dropped deep on the left flank.
A winger and wide full-back pushed up, while the movement of a central midfielder pushing Everton’s central midfielder wider in the half-space opened up the passing lane to Isidor.
As he laid the ball off, the pass then quickly went wide.
In one move, Sunderland have bypassed and moved Everton’s central block around while progressing the ball to their striker and utilising the spaces he has created, then going wide.
He knows exactly what he’s doing when he receives the ball; he is there to link up.
The speed at which he wastes no time laying the ball off or passing it to another teammate ensures there is space behind him, as he moves his marker around or deep.
Teams are obsessed in this day and age with keeping the centre of the pitch as compact as possible, so dropping strikers is one way to create space.
Wilson Isidor creates opportunities for his teammates as the Black Cats go for the direct route to the French striker, who doesn’t hesitate to link up and be an outlet up top.
Wilson Isidor Dribbling
In the same manner in which teams kick it down the touchline for Victor Osimhen to chase and make something randomly with his dribbling and skills, Wilson Isidor is comfortable doing the same for Sunderland.
A striker that feeds off scraps and will do it 50 times in a game and conjure up a moment.
Osimhen was brilliant at doing that during Napoli’s Scudetto-clinching season in 2022/2023.
It’s essential to reference Osimhen because this isn’t an easy skill.
Once again, that ‘loneliness’ that Isidor finds relaxing is important to notice.
Against Everton, he was close to the centre circle and picked the ball up with his back to goal.
After running at Michael Keane, he rode another challenge from James Tarkowski before darting into the penalty area and shooting.
Though his shot flew over the bar, we saw one striker run at four players with the belief he could get himself into a position to create himself a chance.
There isn’t support in sight for Isidor, but he isn’t fazed.
Against Nottingham Forest, we saw this on many occasions, mainly because Sunderland would go long to Isidor, knowing he would hold the ball up.
Surrounded by four players, he waits for a challenge to come in before nutmegging a defender and creating space for himself.
Creating a chance where there wasn’t supposed to be one.
Conclusion
Of course, Wilson Isidor isn’t the finished article.
His goals come from opportunistic finishes inside the box, and he can improve his shot accuracy.
However, he has made the role of central striker for Sunderland his own this season.
There were times last season in the Championship when he was moved to the left wing, and while he is still effective out wide, since arriving in the Premier League, his attributes have better suited the more physical nature of the league.
Whilst his duels win at an average of 29% per game, he has to compete for a lot in each game and often finds himself outnumbered when doing so.
Having a striker for a promoted team in the mould of Wilson Isidor is worth its weight in gold because he isn’t a star signing, whereby you’re waiting for him to come good and are reliant on the goals that he could possibly bring.
Many promoted teams get it wrong when coming up to the Premier League by signing a new striker in the hopes that it will automatically increase the number of goals they score.
However, what typically happens is that they aren’t well-suited or adapted to the team’s playing style, and it takes them time.
Wilson Isidor is thriving in the role of being a ‘lonely’ striker when needed and leading the press when Sunderland wants to disrupt teams that prefer to have more possession, trying to find space against compact defenses.
For the moment, he is the perfect type of striker.
Wilson Isidor knows his role and importance to the newly promoted side, whether through his goals, his ability as an outlet when the North East Club wants to relieve pressure, or, most importantly, the unique threat he poses against defences.
It doesn’t matter how many defenders Wilson Isidor has to run at; he believes he can create an opportunity.
