Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest tips and predictions: More goals galore at Vitality Stadium
Dominic Solanke of AFC Bournemouth
We’re expecting Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest to cap off a goal-packed weekend in the Premier League.
Last season was the highest-scoring Premier League season on record and with Saturday’s fixtures having a bit of a Boxing Day 1963 vibe about it, we expect goals here.
The Cherries 1-1 draw with West Ham could have easily featured more goals, but it ended a seven-game run where one side scored at least three goals.
Andoni Iraola’s side have played out 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0 scorelines in their previous five at home so the only thing for it is to win 6-0 against Nottingham Forest.
That is (probably) unlikely, but they beat Forest 3-2 at the City Ground during that run of high-scoring matches.
There have been over 2.5 goals in six of Forest’s last seven and they’ve been particularly prone to conceding on their travels.
They’ve conceded three or more in four of six on their travels but did manage an impressive Boxing Day win, 3-1, against Newcastle United.
Bournemouth are a dangerous opposition but they’re an opponent that Forest can realistically hope to take some points from, so we expect them to fight fire with fire at times.
A Nuno Espirito Santo side can be conservative but with Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odio, Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi now available, there’s a real attacking threat.
Goals have been a constant in Forest’s away games and with their return to full strength, they should be able to extend their run of both teams scoring.
On the other hand, Bournemouth have no problem breaking down mid to lower-half opposition at home, so it’s hard to envisage a scenario where this game isn’t full of goals.
There isn’t much meat on the bones of over 2.5 goals, but it has been a wild weekend so we’ll chance over 3.5 goals to go with a home win.
Team news
James Hill, Tyler Adams, Hamed Traore, Ryan Fredericks, Max Aarons, Darren Randolph and Enes Unal are expected to miss out for Bournemouth.
Dango Ouattara will be in the squad after recovering from injury.
As well as the return of several key attacking players recently, Nottingham Forest will be able to call upon Moussa Niakhite after he returned from African Cup of Nations duty.
Nuno Tavares is available for selection again but Divock Origi is ruled out due to injury while the remaining quarter of AFCON players, Ibrahim Sangare, Ola Aina, Willy Boly and Serge Aurier are unavailable.
Key stats
- There have been over 3.5 goals in five of Bournemouth’s previous seven
- Dominic Solanke has scored five in five at home
- Both teams have scored in Nottingham Forest’s previous five Premier League matches
- There have been over 3.5 goals in four of Forest’s previous five Premier League away matches
