Saturday 27th September 2025
Nottingham Forest v Sunderland – Premier League
Stadium of Light Kick-Off: 17:30
Tickets & Match Coverage
Tickets: Tickets are sold out.
TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via Sky Sports.
Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)
Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport ) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.sbnation.com!
The build-up…
With going three unbeaten, I thought I’d take a look and we haven’t gone four unbeaten in the Premier League since the run-in
with Sam Allardyce in April and May of 2016 – so it’s been a while in other words.
But it’s our newfound confidence that makes us begin to believe we can travel to sides who qualified for Europe last season, such as Crystal Palace and today’s opponents, Nottingham Forest, and get at least a point.
The manager was giving nothing away in his press conferences in midweek when he was pressed on whether the absence of Diarra would lead to a change of system. The fair assumption would be to assume that Masuaku will replace Reinildo at left-back and Chris Rigg will keep his place in midfield, as he was forced to vacate after just half an hour following the red card.
But will the manager have something different up his sleeve? Check out Martin’s predictions today on what the starting XI might be and see if you agree, or listen to this morning’s preview on Haway The Podcast to hear our thoughts on the multiple options at the manager’s disposal this afternoon.
Another point raised during the press conference by Nick Barnes was the fact that Sunderland are yet to score a goal in the first half of any game. The response was potentially a glimpse into how we view games this season, where Le Bris stated the beginning of games were stable and organised, but in the later stages, it becomes more open and chaotic, which is something we might look to target this afternoon.
I began the Sunderland section saying how long it has been since we went four unbeaten in the top flight, and what’s also been a while is the last time the two sides met in the Premier League.
I will leave it for a second while you think… but it was in fact our first away fixture and first goals, and first victory in the Premier League way back in August 1997. Goals from Micky Gray, two from Niall Quinn, and one from Richard Ord put us 4-1 up by half-time – let’s hope for that sort of start today.
But it’s easy to forget that it was 24 years that Forest spent outside of the top flight after their relegation in 1999, before they returned under Steve Cooper. The owner then went into overdrive by signing ~29 players in the first year in an effort to stay up. They did so, and 16th and 17th placed finishes followed until last season, when they outperformed all predictions by finishing 7th while reaching the FA Cup semi-final.
Nuno Espírito Santo was the manager at the helm who could claim that achievement, but an incident against Leicester City saw him undermined towards the end of the season by the owner, which then spilled into the summer alongside reports of unrest between sporting director Edu and the manager.
Nuno began the season in charge, but the writing was on the wall, and now we have Ange Postecoglou in charge, and after four games, he has yet to record a victory. Their midweek draw at Real Betis in the Europa League could work in two ways, either a catalyst to kick on after an impressive away performance or a draining experience that doesn’t leave much in the tank for today’s game – I know which one I’d prefer.
The betting…
The bookies have the Lads at 18/5 to win the game, while Forest are favourites at 3/4, and the draw is 5/2.
Head to head… at the City Ground
(All competitions)
- Sunderland wins: 14
- Draws: 11
- Nottingham Forest wins: 23
- Sunderland goals: 63
- Nottingham Forest goals: 81
Last time we met… at the City Ground
Saturday 30th December 2017
Championship
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Sunderland
[McGeady 40’]
Sunderland: Ruiter, Love, Browning, O’Shea, Wilson, Matthews, Gibson, Honeyman, McManaman (Gooch), McGeady (Oviedo), Maja (Vaughan) Substitutes not used: Steele, Jones, Embleton, Asoro
Nottingham Forest: Smith, Lichaj, Osborn, Bouchalakis (Traore), Worrall, Mancienne, Diaz, Vaughan, Murphy (Cummings), Dowell, McKay (Carayol) Substitutes not used: Henderson, Cash, Clough, Walker
Attendance: 26,830
Played for both…
Andy Reid
The Republic of Ireland international started his career at Forest and after five years gained a big move – alongside Michael Dawson – to Spurs for a combined fee of around £8m. He would only last a year in North London before heading to Charlton for a couple of years.
A deal worth around £5m saw him sign for the Lads in January 2008, with Greg Halford moving in the opposite direction. His three years on Wearside would show flashes of brilliance, but spells out injured meant his time would come to an end at Sunderland in 2011 when he joined Blackpool.
Prediction…
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Sunderland
If we can survive the first half an hour, I reckon we’ll grab a late goal.
