Will AFCB complete the double over Nottingham Forest?

Written by billythekid

After picking up a well-earned point against 6th place West Ham at the London Stadium on Thursday night, the Cherries are back in action again on Sunday at 2 pm at Dean Court. They will be hoping to take all three points and complete their first double of the season against their visitors Nottingham Forest.

When AFCB visited Nottingham Forest last December, Nuno Espírito Santo was their new manager and it was his first game in charge. After our win there, Nuno’s side were in 17th place, two points short of Luton Town who were in a relegation place, but with a game in hand. AFCB after that win were in 11th place on 22 points, also played one game less than Forest who had 14 points.

Since that game back in December, Forest have played four more Premier League games. The two away games resulted in a win and a defeat. The away win was up in the North East against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United team, Nuno getting his first win in his new job as Nottingham Forest won 1-3, of which Chris Wood scored a hat-trick against his old club. The defeat was in London, against Brentford which finished 3-2. Their two home games were against Manchester United and Arsenal. Forest beat United 2-1, for Nuno’s first win in front of his own supporters. Against Arsenal it finished 1-2. So after 22 games, Nottingham Forest are in 16th place with 20 points.

The last time we played Forest at Dean Court was back in January 2023. Jaidon Anthony scored for the Cherries in the first half and Sam Surridge scored a late equaliser for Forest, to make it 1-1.

In our home games against Forest, AFCB have W 6, D 2, L 2.
In all competitions, AFCB have W 9, D 6, L 6.

AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

AFCB Win

Draw

Forest Win

AFCB Team News
Dango Ouattara is available again after returning from international duty. Lloyd Kelly went off injured at West Ham and yet again we lose another full back. Striker Enes Unal signed from Getafe on loan on deadline day.

AFCB Player To Watch
Dominic Solanke kept up his record of not going more than two games without scoring at West Ham. It probably was one of the simplest goals he has scored, but he was in the right place at the right time and that is a sign of a good striker. Ryan Christie again had a good game in midfield and his partnership with Lewis Cook has really come up trumps. Our fans might get a chance to see our two new signings.

Nottingham Forest Team News
Divock Origi has been out injured. Still missing are the three players still on international duty, Willy Boly, Serge Aurier, Ibrahim Sangara are with the Ivory Coast and Ola Aina is with Nigeria. Two players for Senegal, Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate have returned. They have signed striker Rodrigo Ribeiro on loan from Sporting Lisbon, midfielder Givonni Reyna from Borussia Dortmund on loan and goalkeeper Matt Sels from Strasbourg for £5 million.

Nottingham Forest Player To Watch
Before our game in Nottingham, Chris Wood had last scored back in October when he scored a brace against Luton Town. His goal against us must have revitalised him, as in his next game he scored a hat trick up in Newcastle. He then scored again in their next away league game at Brentford. Two players back from injury are Taiwo Awoniyi who has scored 5 goals in 8 starts (3 as a substitute ) and Anthony Elanga, he scored one goal against AFCB and had 3 assists over the other two games. He has scored 4 goals in total and leads with 6 assists. Morgan Gibbs-White is another.

The Referee
Rebecca Welch is our referee for a second time, but first time in the league and at Dean Court. She was in charge of our away game against QPR in the FA Cup.

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