Nottingham Forest vs Brighton LIVE commentary: Brennan Johnson ...

Nottingham Forest will be desperate for three points as they host Brighton at the City Ground this evening.

Steve Cooper’s side are deep in the Premier League relegation battle, sitting in 19th and only three points off the bottom of the table. 

The Midlands outfit have not won a game since February and are heading towards an instant return to the Championship as things stand. 

They will be looking to capitalise on Brighton’s defeat in the FA Cup semi-finals at the weekend to pick up a crucial three points. 

However, Roberto De Zerbi’s side have had a superb season and are well in with a chance of a place in Europe, with three games in hand putting them in a great position to finish in the top six. 

This Premier League clash will take place on Wednesday, April 26. 

Kick-off at the City Ground is scheduled for 7:30pm. 

talkSPORT will have exclusive live coverage of the game on the talkSPORT APP. 

Commentary will come from Barry Swain via talkSPORT International. 

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Nottingham Forest XI: Navas, Aurier, Niakhate, Felipe, Williams, Mangala, Danilo, Lodi, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Awoniyi.

Subs: Hennessey, Toffolo, Worrall, Lingard, Kouyate, Freuler, Surridge, Dennis, Ayew.

Brighton XI: Steele, Gross, Colwill, Dunk, Estupinan, Caicedo, Mac Allister, March, Buonanotte, Mitoma, Enciso.

Subs: Sanchez, van Hecke, Webster, Veltman, Offiah, Gilmour, Ayari, Welbeck, Undav.

Forest manager Cooper is keen for his team to maintain the belief that they can survive in the Premier League this season. 

He said: “If you get things right for a game and deliver then you can win any game. We have to keep believing in that. If we lose trust in that it will never happen.

“We are all aware of the situation and the challenge continues. We are speaking very openly about the present situation. 

“The [winless] run is far from what we want it to be but we take responsibility for that.”

• Brighton defender Lewis Dunk leads all centre backs in the Premier League this season for completed passes (2,257), carries (602), and involvement in open play sequences that have ended in a shot (97).
• Brennan Johnson has scored six of Nottingham Forest’s last eight Premier League goals at the City Ground, while seven of his eight Premier League goals overall have come at home. Among players with more than five goals in the competition in 2022-23, only Roberto Firmino (89%) has a higher share of his goals coming at home than Johnson (88%).
• Brighton’s Solly March has been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 15 Premier League games, scoring seven and assisting five. Overall, he’s had a hand in 14 Premier League goals in 29 games this season (7 goals, 7 assists), as many as he had in his first five campaigns combined (142 games – 4 goals, 10 assists).
• Since keeping a clean sheet on his Premier League debut (v Leeds in February), Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Keylor Navas has conceded in each of his last 11 games, at an average of 2.2 per match (24 in total). Only once in his career within the big-five European leagues has he had a longer run of appearances without a clean sheet – 13 for Real Madrid between February and May 2017.
• Since the start of October 2022, when Roberto De Zerbi took charge of Brighton, only Manchester City (63.6%) have averaged more possession than the Seagulls (62.5%) in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest (37.5%) have the lowest possession average in this same period.
• Brighton have won their last three midweek Premier League matches, as many as they had in their previous 31 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (D12 L16).
• Brighton have alternated between winning (4) and not winning (D2 L1) in their last seven Premier League games, beating Chelsea 2-1 last time out. Despite pushing for a European spot, the Seagulls have only won consecutive league games three times this season (August, November and January).
• After a nine-game unbeaten home run between October and March in the Premier League (W4 D5), Nottingham Forest have lost two of their last three at the City Ground (D1).
• After winning their first two top-flight games against Nottingham Forest in 1979-80, Brighton are winless in their last seven such meetings (D2 L5), with the only Premier League game between the sides ending 0-0 in October.
• Nottingham Forest have won just one of their last seven home league games against Brighton (D4 L2), though this win did come the last time they hosted the Seagulls in March 2017 (3-0).