Overview
Nottingham Forest will host Sunderland at City Ground. According to predictions, coach Ange Postecoglou is likely to get his first victory with Forest, despite the opponent's impressive form.
In fact, Postecoglou's first weeks at Forest have not been smooth. He could be reprimanded for the Arsenal defeat just four days after taking charge, but his side have since dropped the lead in three games against Swansea City, Burnley and Real Betis.
In the Europa League, Forest also almost won all 3 points in the opening match when leading Betis 2-1, but the goal of former Manchester United player Antony helped the La Liga representative equalize with only 5 minutes left.
In addition, Postecoglou is also going through a 9-match winless streak in the Premier League, including his time leading Tottenham, the longest in his senior league coaching career.
Therefore, the match against Sunderland brought the pressure to win. "Black Meo" is certainly not an easy opponent to bully. Regis Le Bris's side spent heavily in the summer transfer window and showed clear results. They are currently 7th in the rankings after 5 rounds and have only lost one match.
Sunderland drew 1-1 at home to Aston Villa last weekend, despite having to play with one less player in the 33rd minute when defender reinildo received a red card for a foul on Matty Cash.
With 8 points after 5 rounds, Sunderland have only had a better start once in the Premier League era. That was the 2009 2010 season with the last 9 points in this period, when they finished 13th under Steve Bruce.
Statistics show that the match against Forest is likely to be "hot" in the second half. Sunderland are one of two teams (along with Aston Villa) that have not scored in the first half of this season. However, they have scored 6 goals after the break, only behind leaders Liverpool (7). On the other hand, Forest conceded six goals in the second half, the second most in the league behind only West Ham (9).
Sunderland is expected to proactively defend at City Ground, which could provide more possession space for Elliot Anderson. The player now has seven passes that have disrupted the defence leading to a shot - a tally only bettered by Bruno Fernandes (8) in the Premier League this season. With a past playing for Newcastle, Anderson will certainly have a special motivation to shine against Forest.
Forest will not have a satisfactory defense when Ola Aina is out until January, while Murillo's ability to play is still uncertain due to persistent injuries.
Up front, Igor Jesus is likely to start instead of Chris Wood, after the Brazilian striker scored twice in both consecutive matches against Swansea and Betis. In contrast, Douglas Luiz will be absent from the starting lineup due to a hamstring injury in the match against Betis.
At Sunderland, reinildo is suspended after his red card in the previous round, while Habib Diarra has undergone groin surgery and is expected to be out until December.
Head-to-head record
Sunderland have won five of their last seven meetings with Nottingham Forest (losing two). The last meeting between the two sides was in December 2017 in the Championship, when Sunderland won 1-0 under coach Chris Coleman.
High-level confrontations between the two clubs are extremely rare. In fact, this will be the first time they have met in the Premier League since the 1996-1967 season, when Forest lost 1-4 at home and drew 1-1 away.
Score prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Sunderland
The match between Nottingham Forest and Sunderland takes place at 11:30 p.m. on September 27 (Vietnam time).
