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18:58 
Morgan Gibbs-White looks too big to ignore for a goal or an assist against Sunderland on Friday night. After netting the only goal against Porto in the second leg of Nottingham Forest’s Europa League quarter-final tie last Thursday night, Gibbs-White followed that up with a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 hammering of Burnley last weekend.
That means the 26-year-old has now scored 15 times and provided 5 assists across his 48 appearances in all competitions this season, including a combined total of 6 strikes across his last 6 Premier League outings. As such, Gibbs-White will be full of confidence and rubbing his hands at the prospect of coming up against a Sunderland side that shipped 4 goals away at Aston Villa last time out.
The fact that the Black Cats have failed to keep a clean sheet in 4 of their last 6 Premier League home matches only strengthens the case for Gibbs-White to register another goal involvement on Friday night.
Elliot Anderson is one of Nottingham Forest’s most effective players when it comes to drawing fouls, and I’m keen to back him to earn his side a minimum of 2 free kicks on Friday night. The classy Nottingham Forest midfielder is drawing a team-high average of 2.20 fouls per game in the Premier League this season.
A deeper dive into the data shows that the England international has been brought down on 2 or more occasions in 22 of his 33 Premier League appearances this season, including 4 of his last 5. That knack for winning set-pieces has also been evident on the continental stage, with Anderson fouled a combined total of 22 times across his 10 appearances in this season’s Europa League for Nottingham Forest.
Given that Sunderland have a number of combative operators in the middle of the park, such as Granit Xhaka, Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki, I think there is plenty of scope for Anderson to be fouled 2 or more times again on Friday night. The aforementioned trio are committing respective averages of 0.74, 0.95 and 1.27 fouls per game in the Premier League this season.
Sunderland are a side I regularly like to target when it comes to conceding corners, and with good reason. Regis Le Bris’ side are well known for taking a safety-first approach, which naturally invites pressure and leads to them giving up set-piece situations. That is reflected in the fact the hosts are conceding an average of 5.19 corners per game in the Premier League this season. That tendency was evident in Sunderland’s last home match, where they lost the corner count 6-2 against a relegation-threatened Tottenham side, not to mention the fact they were forced to defend exactly 9 corners during recent away trips to Newcastle and Leeds.
With that in mind, I think Nottingham Forest are worth backing to register a minimum of 5 corners on Friday night. Moreover, the Tricky Trees have been strong in this department in the Premier League this season, averaging 5.40 flag kicks per game – a figure bettered by only 6 other sides in the division. It is also worth noting that Forest have hit at least 5 corners in recent matches against Aston Villa and Fulham, while they racked up 7 in Vitor Pereira’s first game in charge against Liverpool.
Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest Team News & Current Form
Sunderland’s quest for European qualification suffered a setback last Sunday when they conceded in the dying embers of a 4-3 defeat away at Aston Villa. That said, the Black Cats are still very much in the mix, with the Premier League table closely bunched at present. A win on Friday night could potentially lift them into the top eight.
As for Nottingham Forest, they will be looking to pull further clear of relegation trouble following last week’s 4-1 win over Burnley. Vitor Pereira’s side currently hold a 5-point buffer over the bottom three and know that a Stadium of Light success would go a long way towards preserving their top-flight status.
Omari Hutchinson has been booked in two of his last three outings for Nottingham Forest, so a repeat here could be worth a look at 9/2 on PaddyPower.
Sunderland have reported no fresh injury concerns following last week’s 4-3 defeat to Aston Villa, meaning they are once again set to be without Bertrand Traore, Jocelin Ta Bi, Nilson Angulo and Romaine Mundle.
After picking up a hamstring injury against Burnley, Murillo has joined Callum Hudson-Odoi, John Victor, Nicolo Savona and Willy Boly in the Nottingham Forest treatment room.
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