UAE, free agent and Denmark - where the last Sunderland side to beat Sheffield United are now

Luke O’Nien is the sole survivor from the last Sunderland side to beat Sheffield United. That was in the Carabao Cup five years ago, since when the Blades have beaten Sunderland twice during the 2022-23 Championship season.

How the Black Cats would love a repeat of that Cup triumph in tonight’s top of the table clash at Bramall Lane. There has been quite a turnaround in personnel since that 1-0 victory and quite an upturn in fortune too.

O’Nien of course remains a mainstay of the Black Cats’ starting line-up but rest who were on duty in 2019 have long departed.

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Lee Burge – Northampton Town

Burge signed for Sunderland from Coventry as a back-up goalkeeper to Jon Mclaughlin in the 2019-20 season, in which he mostly featured in cup games such as this.

Burge broke into the team the following year, starting 46 games between the sticks for the Black Cats In 2022, Burge moved on to Northampton Town, where he still remains the Cobblers' No 1.

Conor Mclaughlin – Retired

Right-back Mclaughlin signed for Sunderland from Millwall in 2019 but struggled for game time during his time at the Stadium of Light, playing just 40 games in the league over two seasons.

After leaving Sunderland , Mclaughlin returned to his former club Fleetwood but again struggled with injury and after just 12 appearances in all competitions in the 2021-22 season, he retired through injury. Since retirement the 33-year-old has begun taking his coaching badges in his native Northern Ireland.

Tom Flanagan – Colchester United

During his time on Wearside, Flanagan made over 100 appearances in red-and-white in three-and-a-half years at the club.

The centre-back joined Sunderland immediately after their relegation to League One in 2018 and stayed until January 2022, when he joined fellow third tier side Shrewsbury Town. The Northern Ireland international spent two and half years with the Salopians before being released this summer and dropping down to League Two with Colchester.

Joel Lynch – Precision FC

Lynch signed for Sunderland in 2019, after a three-year spell at QPR, and played just one season at the Stadium of Light. He later joined Crawley Town for two seasons, before making a move to the middle east to join second tier UAE side Precision FC, playing with former EFL stars such as Ravel Morrison and Harry Arter.

Lynch joined when they were in the third tier and achieved promotion in his first season and currently his side are top of the second tier.

Laurens De Bock – Free agent

De Bock had a short loan spell on Wearside from Leeds United, playing just ten games in total and his time at Sunderland is barely remembered by fans.

Since then, the Belgian had spells at numerous clubs and was most recently at Greek side Atromitos. He was released in the summer and is currently without a club.

Max Power – Aarhus GF

Power was at Sunderland for three years, captaining the Black Cats on numerous occasions and scoring the only goal in the Bramall Lane win. He left in 2021 to return to Wigan where he won the league one title as the Black Cats went up via the playoffs.

He has since played in Saudi Arabia's second division for Al Qadasiya before returning to Europe joining Danish side Aarhus GF in the summer.

Dylan McGeough – Carlisle United

Power’s midfield partner that night was Scotsman McGeough. The now 31-year-old struggled during his time with Sunderland and left after 18 months on Wearside to join Aberdeen. He has since returned to England and has twice been relegated from League One, first with Forest Green Rovers and then last season with Carlisle.

Luke O’Nien – Sunderland

O’Nien is now Sunderland’s club captain and has amassed over 250 appearances for the club since joining in 2018. Operating as a centre half these days, O’Nien has been a key part of high flying Sunderland’s good start to this season, as they sit in second after 16 games.

Chris Maguire – Eastleigh

Maguire linked back up with former Sunderland owner Stewart Donald at National League side Eastleigh in 2023. In three years on Wearside, Maguire was a key part of Sunderland’s side, scoring 28 goals in 125 games in all competitions.

After being released by the Black Cats in 2021 Maguire joined Lincoln and returned to the Stadium of Light in January 2022 and scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win for the Imps. The attacking midfielder was banned from football for six weeks later in 2022 for placing 52 bets between 2017 and 2022.

Elliot Embleton – Blackpool

A play-off final hero for Sunderland in 2022, Embleton gave his hometown club the lead against Wycombe in the 2022 League One final with a strike from outside the box.

After promotion, Embleton struggled for game time at the Stadium of Light as well as being crippled with injury during his time on loan at Derby County last season where he made just two appearances. The 25-year-old joined Blackpool in the summer for a second spell after he spent the second half of the 2020-21 on loan with the Tangerines, winning promotion from League One via the play-offs.

Charlie Wyke – Carlisle United

Wyke signed for Sunderland at the start of 2018-19 season following relegation to League One, and never really hit the heights of his old goalscoring form for the first two seasons on Wearside.

In his third season, he scored 31 goals in 54 games, as Sunderland fell short of promotion in the play-off semi-final. Wyke turned down a contract at the end of the season to join Wigan Athletic.

In 2021, Wyke suffered a heart attack during a training session and spent nine months on the sidelines. In October 2022 Wyke returned to the Stadium of Light with Wigan and opened the scoring against his former side in a 2-1 defeat. After being released by the Tics in the summer Wyke joined his former side Carlisle United in League Two but was recently ruled out for the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury.