Key events
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.