PREVIEW: Forest hope to move away from drop against Sunderland | OneFootball

Sunderland’s main aim this season was simply survival; however, they can exceed this greatly as they are still in the hunt for European football next season. They currently sit 11th, on 46 points, and are only three points behind seventh placed Bournemouth and four behind Brighton in sixth, whilst also having a game in hand on both these sides.

A win would significantly boost their chances in what has been a dream return to the top flight for Regis Le Bris’ side. They come into the game on decent form, having won three and lost two of their last five outings. Notably losing in dramatic fashion in their last game when Aston Villa scored a 93rd minute winner not long after Sunderland had scored two in as many minutes to level the game at 3-3.

Despite scoring three last time out, there will be some concerns over the lack of goals for the Black Cats; they have only scored six in their last five, with three coming against Villa alone. Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor have only netted eleven between them so far this season, which could be a cause for concern for Sunderland during the run-in.

Sunderland’s remaining fixtures do give them the chance to climb the table with favourable fixtures against Forest and Wolves in the next two. In the final three, they play three sides currently above them in the table, taking on Manchester United and Chelsea, either side of a trip to Everton, providing an opportunity to take points off of sides also vying for Europe.

The visitors are in the midst of a relegation battle and could extend their gap to the bottom three to eight points with a win. Nottingham Forest have hit form at the right time as they are five unbeaten in the premier league and seven in all competitions. Forest’s recent upturn in form may be down to impressive individual performances, some of which have come courtesy of Morgan Gibbs-White, who has more goals than any other Premier League player since the start of March, seven. After his hat-trick against Burnley in The Reds’ last match, he has become the highest scoring Englishman in the league this season.

With Wolves and Burnley’s relegations already confirmed this week, Forest will look to turn a three-way battle for survival into a straight shootout between West Ham and Tottenham, a win would keep both at bay with few games remaining. Tottenham having a favourable fixture away at already relegated Wolves this weekend, whilst the Hammers host Everton, a result for the visitors on Friday would pile further pressure on the sides beneath them going into their games the following day.

They will find themselves without Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season following an injury to his right quadricep during the Europa League game against Porto. The Reds may begin to rotate the side with an important Europa League fixture on the horizon. Forest will host fellow Premier League side Aston Villa in the first leg of their semi-final clash.

For Sunderland, there are no fresh injury concerns. Regis Le Bris has confirmed the fitness of Omar Alderete, and he should be involved on Friday evening. Alderete netted the only goal of the game in the reverse fixture all the way back in September.

The game will take place on Friday, 24th April at 8pm (UK time) and will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League.