English Premier
2026-04-24 - Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Friday 24th April 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Sunderland
The players had to ride an emotional rollercoaster last Sunday when fighting back from 3-1 down at Aston Villa with less than five minutes left on the clock, but ultimately conceding an injury time winner. It is a blow for Sunderland and their hopes of pushing into European Football, but Regis Le Bris will remind his players that others around them failed to capitalise and a strong conclusion to the season would still be rewarded.
The defeat last Sunday means Sunderland are 11th in the Premier League table, but they remain 4 points clear of rivals Newcastle United and just 2 points behind 6th placed Chelsea who play earlier in the week. Home form has been hugely important for Sunderland who have an 8-5-3 record at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland have lost 3 of the last 5 games in all competitions, but they had won consecutive Premier League fixtures prior to the loss at Villa Park. The unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light was ended by Liverpool and Sunderland had suffered 3 consecutive Premier League defeats here before the 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Jocelin Ta Bi, Nilson Angulo and Bertrand Traore are hoping to be passed fit ahead of this fixture.
Nottingham Forest
Fans would have been nervous and frustrated at half time of the last Premier League game and Vitor Pereira had big work to do at half time with Nottingham Forest trailing relegation threatened Burnley. Morgan Gibbs-White stepped up for his team and the second half hat-trick has put a bit of distance between Nottingham Forest and the relegation places.
The Tricky Trees are still in 16th place in the Premier League table, but the 5 point gap to Tottenham Hotspur in the bottom three looks a significant one with five League games to play. Vitor Pereira's men get to go out first this weekend and really put some pressure on those below them as Nottingham Forest bid to improve the 5-3-8 away record in the top flight.
Nottingham Forest's come from behind win over Burnley means they are now unbeaten in 7 in all competitions and have won consecutive fixtures to give themselves some momentum. Since Vitor Pereira was appointed as manager, Nottingham Forest have played 6 away games in all competitions and suffered a single defeat, while winning half of those matches.
Murillo and Dan Ndoye are both doubts, while Callum Hudson-Odoi could have suffered an injury that will force him to miss the remainder of the campaign.
Head to Head
The fixture hosted by Nottingham Forest earlier this season was won 0-1 by Sunderland.
The Black Cats had been unbeaten in 4 at home against Nottingham Forest before losing the most recent fixture at the Stadium of Light in September 2017.
Prediction
Friday Night Football comes from the Stadium of Light in the North East and Sunderland will be looking to bounce back after conceding four goals in an away defeat last Sunday.
At the same time, Nottingham Forest were scoring four in beating Burnley and just putting some distance between themselves and the Championship.
Both teams should be entering this fixture with plenty of motivation to try and earn the three points and that should make it an interesting contest. Sunderland are still trying to push their way into the European places on offer to Premier League clubs, while Nottingham Forest will feel they can turn the screw on Tottenham Hotspur by winning here before Spurs have to visit Wolves on Saturday.
Vitor Pereira has inspired some positivity from his Nottingham Forest squad and they have only been beaten once in 6 away games in all competitions. Half of those matches have ended in victory, including a thumping 0-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur last month, and Nottingham Forest are playing with some confidence after progressing into the Europa League Semi Final and backing that up with a big three points against Burnley.
However, they should have a lot of respect for this Sunderland team who have been very tough to beat at home for much of the season- they had lost 3 in a row here, but Sunderland had not played too badly in those matches and snapped the run by beating Spurs.
Injuries have cleared up in the home squad and that makes Sunderland that much more effective, while they showed the character within the squad to fight back from 3-1 down to level 3-3 at Aston Villa last weekend. Yes, they were beaten in injury time, but Regis Le Bris has gotten plenty out of his squad and Sunderland are always going to be tough to deal with in this part of the North East.
There are some quality players in the Nottingham Forest squad, but the injury to Murillo is a blow.
Scoring four goals to beat Burnley is a boost, but Nottingham Forest have struggled for consistency and they are not going to be given too many clear openings by this Sunderland team.
Much like when they hosted Tottenham Hotspur, it does feel like Sunderland are being a touch disrespected to be set as the narrow underdog compared with Nottingham Forest. The visiting team have found some very good away results under the current manager, but some of the stronger results have been in the Europa League and Sunderland can certainly give them something to think about here.
A draw would not be a surprising result- it may actually suit both teams when all is said and done, but Sunderland have been effective at the Stadium of Light and they look the team to back on any of the 'Draw No Bet' markets that have been set.
Only 2 of the last 16 Sunderland games have ended in a draw after ninety minutes have been completed and it just feels like they are being priced in a manner where the layers are giving more respect to the 'need' for points that Nottingham Forest have compared with the hosts.
However, the home team are still motivated by getting into European Football and finishing above rivals Newcastle United and this is a squad that have put in big efforts regularly, which deserves more respect on the prices being offered.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland 1-0 Nottingham Forest
