Nottingham Forest will look to take another step in securing their Premier League status as they travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland on Friday Night Football.
Sunderland saw their two-match winning run come to an end in agonising fashion last weekend as they conceded in stoppage time to be on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller at Villa Park against Champions League-chasing Aston Villa.
Regis Le Bris’s visitors thought they had rescued a point by scoring twice late on, and even had a golden chance to win it, but Tammy Abraham’s late strike saw the Black Cats leave empty-handed.
Sunderland did put a halt to their three-match losing run at home in their last league outing at the Stadium of Light, as they defeated relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur 1-0.
Nottingham Forest gave their survival hopes a real boost last Sunday, coming from a goal down to defeat relegation rivals Burnley – on an afternoon when I landed a 5/6 winner.
Vitor Pereira’s men are now unbeaten in each of their previous five Premier League outings (W2-D3-L0), moving them five points clear of the relegation zone.
How the bookies view it: Tough one to call
The bookies are finding it hard to separate these two sides, with Nottingham Forest marginal favourites at 31/20 at bet365.
Sunderland are 13/8 to record back-to-back home wins, whilst the draw is 9/4.
Head to head: Black Cats with recent advantage
Sunderland have been victorious in six of their previous seven meetings with Nottingham Forest (W6-D0-L1), including a 0-1 victory in the reverse fixture at the City Ground at the end of September.
Players to watch: More Magic from Morgan?
Morgan Gibbs-White backed up his winning strike against Porto in the Europa League last Thursday by firing in his first career hat-trick against Burnley three days later.
The ex-Wolves man has now scored 15 times for Forest in all competitions this season – including in four of his previous six Premier League appearances – and appeals at 8/5 at bet365 to Score or Assist.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Sunderland will likely be missing the injured Omar Alderete, Simon Moore, Romaine Mundle, Nilson Angulo, Jocelin Ta Bi and Bertrand Traore.
Nottingham Forest will be without the injured John Victor, Willy Boly, Nicola Savona, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, whilst Murillo and Dan Ndoye are doubts.
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, O’Nien, Ballard, Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Rigg, Diarra, Le Fee, Brobbey
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Cunha, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Bakwa, Gibbs-White, Hutchinson, Jesus
Anything else catch the eye?
These two clubs come into this clash off the back of high-scoring encounters at the weekend, meaning we could see some goals at the Stadium of Light on Friday night.
Forest’s opening 16 Premier League fixtures on their travels this campaign have averaged 2.63 goals per game, with 14 (88%) of them producing at least two strikes, whilst each of the last four and six of their past seven have gone Over 2.5 Goals.
Therefore, I’m happy to back the Over 2.25 Asian goal line. This would mean if there are exactly two goals scored, we will lose just half of our stake, whilst three or more strikes will reward a full payout.
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