Bournemouth welcome Nottingham Forest to Vitality Stadium in a fight for Premier League survival.
Victory could see Bournemouth climb to 14th depending upon results elsewhere, whilst Forest will stay 13th with a win.
Team News
Adam Smith is available for Bournemouth after completing an one-match suspension in their defeat at Brentford last weekend.
Marcus Tavernier (hamstring), Ryan Fredericks and Junior Stanislas (both knock) are doubts for this game, and could face late fitness tests.
New signing, Dango Ouatarra could be in contention for his Cherries debut after joining from Lorient this week.
Lewis Cook and Dominic Solanke (both knee) remain absent but David Brooks (fitness) won’t be rushed back into the matchday squad, after the Welsh midfielder spent the last 16 months on the sidelines.
Forest will be without goalkeeper, Dean Henderson after he suffered a muscle injury during their East Midlands derby win against Leicester last weekend.
Ryan Yates (head) is a doubt but Willy Boly (ankle), Jesse Lingard, Cheikhou Kouyate (both hamstring), Giulian Biancone (knee), Moussa Niakhate (thigh), Omar Richards (leg) and Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Bournemouth host Forest at Vitality Stadium in a 3pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 21 January.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth won their only previous Premier League meeting against Forest by 3-2 result in September 2022.
- Forest are visiting Bournemouth for the first time in England’s top flight but have won just one of their last six visits (W1, L5).
- Bournemouth have kept clean sheets in their last two home games against Forest (W2).
- Since Gary O’Neill was appointed as permanent manager in late November, Bournemouth have scored just twice and conceded 14 goals in six matches across all competitions.
- Just one of Brennan Johnson’s four league goals this season has been scored away from home, in a 1-1 draw at Everton in late August.
Prediction
Despite suffering a tough defeat at Brentford last weekend, Bournemouth produced a solid effort amidst wasteful end product which proved costly coupled with a couple of defensive errors, but this is a chance to build upon that performance and try to find a first win in two months.
Forest meanwhile finally seem to be clicking because aside from their FA Cup defeat at Blackpool, Steve Cooper’s team have found some form since the turn of 2023 which was demonstrated by a solid home win over Leicester last weekend in a clinical attacking display.
This sort of game though is one which both teams must look to win if they want to avoid relegation come end of season, yet their form is contrastable and I can see Forest getting the win if they continue to play like they’ve done in recent weeks and end their Achilles heel on Bournemouth’s turf.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Result: Bournemouth 1-1 Nottingham Forest
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