Sunderland & Nottingham Forest team and injury news plus praise for Regis Le Bris - round-up

Sunderland will look to consolidate their solid start to life back in the Premier League when they travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.

The Black Cats have taken eight points from their opening five top-flight matches, most recently coming from behind to draw 1-1 against Aston Villa, despite going down to 10 men in the 33rd minute. Forest, meanwhile, have endured a tough start to the season, sitting 16th with just five points on the board so far, while they gave up a lead in the 85th minute to draw 2-2 away at Real Betis in the Europa League on Wednesday.

However, the Tricky Trees certainly won’t be an easy proposition, so what is Sunderland’s state of play before that match?

Sunderland team news ahead of Nottingham Forest clash

Sunderland confirmed earlier this week that summer arrival Habib Diarra faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a groin injury. Reinildo will also begin his three-match suspension following his red card against Aston Villa for violent conduct.

Elsewhere, the likes Romaine Mundle and Leo Hjelde are not due back until mid-October, but Regis Le Bris has confirmed versatile defender Luke O’Nien is ‘now connected with the squad fully’ following the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the play-off final, declaring him in contention to face Forest.

Sunderland may look forward to a midfield boost with Forest boss Ange Postecoglou confirming Douglas Luiz suffered some ‘hamstring soreness’ against Real Betis, forcing him off at half-time.

“Douglas Luiz had a bit of hamstring soreness at half-time, so we took him off as a precaution,” said Postecoglou. “They were very taxing conditions for the lads. We’re going to have to do some really strong recovery with them because we’ve got a game on Saturday. Aside from those two, I don’t think there’s anyone who has come out with anything too significant.”

Le Bris will hope his side are much sharper than Forest having had a full week off, while their opponents had to travel to Spain and back for European commitments.

Three key stats behind Nottingham Forest vs Sunderland

While Sunderland have made the better start to the season, Forest will still be favourites due to home advantage and their excellent 2024/25 campaign.

Here are three key stats to keep in mind ahead of the clash at the City Ground:

1. These two sides have played each other on just two occasions since 2008, with each enjoying a 1-0 away win during the 2017/18 Championship season.
2. The last home win in this fixture came back in September 2004, when goals from Julio Arca and Stephen Wright handed Sunderland a 2-0 victory at the Stadium of Light.
3. Forest have failed to keep a clean sheet in four games under Postecoglou so far, conceding nine goals along the way, in contrast to Sunderland conceding just four goals in five Premier League outings this season.

Regis Le Bris praised as ex-Sunderland stars endure mixed week

It’s been a mixed week for some of Sunderland’s promotion heroes who departed the club in the summer, with Jobe Bellingham being sent a warning by Dortmund manager Niko Kovac, while Tommy Watson notched a hat-trick of assists in Brighton’s 6-0 EFL Cup win away at Barnsley.

Le Bris has been praised for the ‘great job’ he’s doing at Sunderland by Roy Keane, another who knows all about the pressures of the Stadium of Light dugout. The Irishman also praised Sunderland’s summer recruitment. Meanwhile, former Blackburn, Tottenham and England midfielder Tim Sherwood has stated that he’d rather have Wilson Isidor in his starting XI than Newcastle United summer arrival Nick Woltemade.

Isidor is Sunderland’s top scorer in the Premier League this season so far with three goals - only Erling Haaland (6) has more - while Woltemade has scored once in four appearances across all competitions for the Magpies since arriving from Stuttgart.

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