Key events
13 min: Good save by Roefs! Alderete plays a poor pass out of defence that goes straight to Igor Jesus. He finds Hutchinson, whose whipped shot from the edge of the area is pushed away by the diving Roefs. It’s a good save but Hutchinson’s shot wasn’t right in the corner.
11 min Anderson’s dangerous cross is shanked behind for a corner by Hume. Nowt comes of it.
10 min Sadiki has had his hand bandaged and is back on the field.
9 min Sadiki has gone to the touchline for more treatment to his hand.
8 min: Chance for Rigg! Le Fee takes advantage of a ricochet to collect a loose ball and put Rigg through on goal to his right. He opens his body but sidefoots straight at Selz from 15 yards.
6 min Both sides have started pretty well, with the game being played at a nice pace.
At least it was being played a nice pace: there is currently a short break in play while Sadiki receives treatment. Sangare accidentally stood on his hand.
3 min A regrettable square pass from Sadiki, deep in his own half, is nicked by Hutchinson. Alderete makes an immportant challenge on the edge of the area and Anderson’s long-range shot deflects over the bar for a corner.
The corner is half cleared to Williams, who mishits a difficult volley well wide.
1 min Forest kick off from left to right as we watch. You can’t beat an evening match starting in daylight.
As usual, there’s a cracking atmosphere at the Stadium of Light. The players are ready for action. Shall we?
Regis Le Bris talks to Sky Sports
[On the 4-3 defeat at Villa] We tried to impose our ideas at Villa – it wasn’t easy because they have many good players – but we tried. It was a tight game and we had the opportunity to win it.
[On Sunderland’s European hopes] The most important thing is to win games. The first step is to be strong at home. The middle of the table is tight; if you don’t win, you can’t expect anything.
Vitor Pereira talks to Sky Sports
[On Forest’s excellent form] I think we’ve been more consistent mentally and tactically. We’ve had more time to work so the players know what we want better than before.
[On picking Igor Jesus and Chris Wood together] We need to score goals. They are two players who work a lot defensively, which means I can play both of them.
Sunderland are a strong team, especially at home – very competitive with quality. We need to treat this like a Champions League game.
“While no one expected Forest to maintain last season’s performance level, it was inconceivable that they would be flirting with relegation by May,” writes Krishnamoothy V. “Did Forest lose it when they parted with Nuno?”
I think they parted with Nuno because they’d lost it. But I really like Vitor Pereira and Forest have looked a top-half side since he took over.
The return fixture at the City Ground helped set the tone for both teams’ seasons.
Read Louise Taylor’s preview
Team news
Sunderland make two changes, both in defence, to the side that lost 4-3 at Villa Park. Dan Ballard and Trai Hume replace Luke O’Nien and Reinildo.
Forest bring in Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus for Murillo, who has a muscle injury, and Dilane Bakwa. Igor Jesus came off the bench at half-time last weekend, with Forest losing at home to Burnley, and scored the final goal in their 4-1 win. The man who scored the first three, Morgan Gibbs-White, will roam from the left.
Sunderland (4-2-3-1) Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Hume; Xhaka, Sadiki; Rigg, Diarra, Le Fee; Brobbey.
Subs: Ellborg, Cirkin, Reinildo, Geertruida, O’Nien, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor, H Jones.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1) Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Jair Cunha, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Igor Jesus, Gibbs-White; Wood.
Subs: Ortega, Morata, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Dominguez, Yates, McAtee, Netz, Bakwa.
Referee Darren England.
Preamble
Friday night, who wants a fight? Not this peaceable Guardianista, that’s for sure, and not Nottingham Forest. They’re trying to escape a relegation fight – and can go a long way towards achieving that if they win at Sunderland tonight.
Forest are 16th in the table, five points clear of Tottenham with five games remaining. This time last year they were fourth, but although the change in Forest’s league position has made things a lot more complicated, their objective is essentially the same: to play Champions League and Premier League football next season.
Forest play both legs of their humdinging Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa in the next fortnight. A positive result at the Stadium of Light would allow them to embrace that without worrying about what’s over their shoulder.
At the start of the season, most people agreed that Forest’s opponents were never going to be in a relegation battle come late April. That’s because Sunderland were supposed to be long gone by now, with only their parachute for company,. An occasionally flat second half of the season should not obscure a remarkable first season back in the Premier League, one of the best by a promoted team in the past decade.
It’s not over yet. Sunderland start the game in 11th but will move up to eighth – above Chelsea, the world club champions – if they win tonight. Who knows, this time next year they might be in a European semi-final themselves.
Kick off 8pm BST.
