What Granit Xhaka is doing behind the scenes at Sunderland to help inspire Arsenal victory

Regis Le Bris believes Granit Xhaka's knowledge about Arsenalcan help Sunderland beat the Premier League leaders on Saturday.

The newly promoted Black Cats are enjoying a strong start to their top-flight return, but face arguably their toughest test of the campaign so far against the high-flying Gunners. Mikel Arteta'sside could extend their lead at the top of the table with a win at the Stadium of Light, although the home side currently occupy fourth place and could jump up to second themselves.

Former Arsenal midfielder Xhakaspent seven seasons in north London and Le Bris hopes Sunderland can use that to their advantage. “He’s useful in different ways. His knowledge about Arsenal is important for us,” Le Bris said.

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“We spoke together with the coaching staff all week. I think the main point is belief. The way he can transmit confidence to the squad, tell the players we can win something against this squad, even if they are really strong. This part is also really important.”

Xhaka has been a standout performer for Sunderland since his arrival over the summer and has been influential both on and off the pitch with his leadership qualities. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his former player in his Friday press conference and Le Bris is pleased to have Xhaka in his team as Sunderland aim to make further strides this season.

“He plays with us now, which is great news,” the Black Cats boss said. “It’s a really good opportunity for Sunderland to have this kind of player because the club wants to grow and you need to set the standards.

“If you don’t know the standards, you don’t live the standards every day. It’s tough to imagine how far you can go and for that it’s really important for us.

“On the pitch, I keep repeating, he’s a really good player, which is really important. We spoke this week about his leadership and we agreed one of the main strengths of a leader is to create other leaders and he’s doing this every day.

“You can set the standard but at the same time, you know that if you are the only leader on the pitch for the full season it’s not sustainable.” Sunderland are fourth in the table after 10 games and with a recent last-gasp win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and a point against Everton, Le Bris believes his team will need a “masterclass” performance against Arsenal

“We have to play our best football and if we are afraid or a bit reserved against this kind of team, we’ll be punished,” he said. If we’re too emotional, we’ll be punished. So we have to do a masterclass, we have no choice.

“It’s a good test after 10 games, after a full pre-season and 10 games in the Premier League, this game arrives in the perfect time to test us and challenge us.” Sunderland will be without defender Omar Alderete as he continues his recovery from a concussion.