Ange Postecoglou’s slow start to life at Nottingham Forest continued on Saturday, as Omar Alderete’s (£4.0m) first-half goal secured a win for a solid Sunderland outfit.
Here are our Scout Notes from the City Ground.
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SOLID SUNDERLAND
Six matches into the 2025/26 season, and Sunderland are flying high in fifth.
Regis Le Bris’ side faced considerable pressure on Saturday; however, they successfully managed to protect their lead to come away with the three points.
The victory owed much to Robin Roefs (£4.5m), Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) top-scoring goalkeeper.
The Dutchman came back brilliantly from his error last week, producing a number of fine saves (six in total) to deny Forest. He also claimed a share of the bonus.
Alderete, meanwhile, headed home the game’s only goal and met the defensive contributions (DefCon) threshold.
“We can’t expect anything if we don’t defend properly. Nottingham Forest are really good on the ball, many threats, many different profiles, wingers, strikers, midfielders, even the defenders are really good on the ball. So, it was obvious coming here we had to defend really well, mid-block, low-block even a bit higher in the first half, we did well, not perfectly but enough to keep a clean sheet.” – Regis Le Bris
Elsewhere, Reinildo (£4.0m) was replaced by Arthur Masuaku (£4.0m) at left-back following his red card against Aston Villa. However, Masuaku departed after 58 minutes due to having received an early yellow card.
XHAKA SUPERB
Granit Xhaka (£5.0m) provided the assist for Alderete’s goal from a lovely floated free-kick, his third assist in four matches.
In a superb midfield display, he also racked up 20 DefCons, including eight clearances and seven recoveries.
Averaging 4.8 points per match, only five Premier League midfielders have produced more touches than Xhaka in 2025/26 (422), further highlighting his influence at Sunderland.
“We need a captain like Granit because he gives us so much. He can control the rhythm, and he understands the game like a future coach – the game model and how to manage it in real time.” – Regis Le Bris on Granit Xhaka
ANGE’S DIFFICULT START
Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Postecoglou has now lost three and drawn two of his first five matches in all competitions.
Against Sunderland, Forest had 22 shots and plenty of chances, but they lacked ruthlessness in front of goal, with Chris Wood (£7.5m) missing a big chance 10 minutes from time.
On why they are struggling to find the net, Postecoglou said:
“Tough, it’s another game that got away from us. It has been the story of the five games. We control games really well and don’t take our chances. That means we don’t get the result we wanted. We had enough chances to win it. We have been wasteful in front of goal in the last five games.” – Ange Postecoglou
Elliot Anderson (£5.5m) also curled a shot just over the bar, but did at least collect extra DefCon points for the third successive Gameweek.
WHY GIBBS-WHITE WAS BENCHED
Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m) was benched on Saturday, with James McAtee (£5.3m) making his first Premier League start for Forest in his place, as Postecoglou juggles the demands of European football.
He made five changes in total here, with Igor Jesus (£5.8m) also named among the substitutes despite his midweek brace.
Explaining his decision to bench Gibbs-White, Postecoglou said:
“We are going to need the whole squad. We have a lot of games coming up, he had a big night the other night and we have a lot of players to give minutes to.” – Ange Postecoglou on Morgan Gibbs-White
Elsewhere, Nikola Milenkovic (£5.4m) recovered to face Sunderland, but fellow centre-back Murillo (£5.4m) remained out with a thigh injury.
A quick word on Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.9m), too.
He lined up at left-back but frequently ‘inverted’, touching the ball 52 times in the opponent’s half, the most of any player except Anderson.
Nottingham Forest are back in UEFA Europa League action on Thursday, when they host FC Midtjylland.
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