Murillo will miss Nottingham Forest’s match against Sunderland, and the timing could hardly be worse for a side whose results without the defender have been poor. Forest have won only one of the nine Premier League matches Murillo has missed, a run that included draws with Leicester, Burnley and Wolves.
That is one reason Sunderland are fancied for the win in this sunderland vs nottm forest meeting, which is being shown live on Sky Sports. The home side have been difficult to break down from distance too: only Burnley have conceded more shots from outside the box than Sunderland, and they allow 1.4 shots on target from outside the box per 90.
Forest still have Morgan Gibbs-White as a major attacking outlet, and he has been trying to carry more of the load in recent weeks. Across his last 16 games, he has averaged 2.9 shots per 90, and in his last nine he has posted four shots on target from outside the box.
That combination leaves Forest facing a familiar problem. They are missing one of their most important defensive players, they are up against a Sunderland side with numbers that point toward a narrow, stubborn contest, and Gibbs-White may again have to provide the edge if Forest are to improve on a record that has not given them much comfort without Murillo.