JUST IN: ‘New’ kick-off time for Bournemouth vs. Nottingham Forest, TV channel, prediction, team news, lineups, scores, referee, and VAR.
High-flying Nottingham Forest will test their mettle against another in-form Premier League side in Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams meet for the first time since the opening day of the season in August last year when they played out a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
Match preview
Not since November 23 last year have Bournemouth tasted defeat in any competition,
with the Cherries boasting an 11-game unbeaten run that was extended in style last
weekend when they cruised to a deserved 4-1 victory at Newcastle United.
Andoni Iraola’s side showed no signs of nerves against a Magpies outfit who had won each
of their previous nine, and it was Justin Kluivert who stole the headlines with a superb hat-trick,
scoring more goals than his father Patrick Kluivert (one) ever managed during his brief stint at St James’ Park in 2004-05.
Bournemouth have now added Newcastle to their growing collection of
Premier League scalps this season, along with Arsenal (2-0), Manchester City (2-1),
Tottenham Hotspur (1-0) and Manchester United (3-0), and Iraola’s spirited squad
will not be fazed by their next two encounters against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
After finishing 12th with a club-record 48 points last season, the Cherries have already
notched up 37 points from 22 games so far this term and sit seventh in the
Premier League table, just three points behind the top four and seven adrift of Forest in third.
Bournemouth will fancy their chances of success on Saturday as they have not lost
any of their previous nine league meetings with Forest (W5 D4) since 2-1 away defeat in the Championship in February 2015.
Nottingham Forest are enjoying their longest unbeaten run in the Premier League (eight – W7 D1)
since November 1995 (25) and their 44-point tally after 22 games is their second
highest at this stage of a top-flight season, behind only 1977-78 (49 points).
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side celebrated their 13th league win of the campaign after
beating basement club Southampton 3-2 at the City Ground last weekend.
The Tricky Trees were given a scare by the Saints as they conceded twice in the final half-hour,
but they held on for three precious points to boost their European qualification hopes.
Many will argue that if Arsenal are still in the title race then Forest are too, as they sit level on points with the Gunners in second and six points behind leaders Liverpool, who still have a game in hand. Forest are also in a strong position to secure Champions League football for next season, as they are six points clear of Man City in fifth spot.
Forest have remarkably gone 1-0 up in 18 of their 22 Premier League matches this season, but taking the lead has not been a good omen in this fixture with Bournemouth, as the team scoring first has won none of the five Premier League meetings between the two teams – in all five cases, it has been the home side to have opened the scoring, though.
The Tricky Trees can head to the Vitality Stadium with optimism as they have won each of their last four Premier League away games – last winning five consecutive on the road as a top-flight club in January 1989 – while only Liverpool (27) have collected more away points than Nuno’s side so far this season.
Bournemouth Premier League form:
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Bournemouth form (all competitions):
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Nottingham Forest Premier League form:
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Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):
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