Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth Matchday Stats Preview

Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth Matchday Stats Preview 

Nottingham Forest are winless in their last eight league games against Bournemouth (D3 L5), losing each of their last three at home against the Cherries.

This will be the second time Bournemouth have faced Nottingham Forest in their opening league match of a season, following a 0-0 draw at the City Ground in League One in 2007-08.

Nottingham Forest have lost their opening league game in each of the last five seasons, conceding exactly two goals each time.

Having lost their opening match in each of their first three Premier League campaigns, Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their last four season openers in the competition (W2 D2).

Nottingham Forest have earned just 16 points so far in 2024 (W4 D4 L10), the fewest of any current Premier League side. However, they’ve won two of their last three league games (L1), as many as they had in their first 15 this calendar year (D4 L9).

Bournemouth have only failed to score in three of their last 30 Premier League games, with each of those coming against last season’s top three (0-4 v Liverpool in January, 0-1 v Man City in February, 0-3 v Arsenal in May).

Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espírito Santo hasn’t lost on MD1 in any of his last 11 league campaigns (W7 D4), taking into account time in Portugal, Spain, England and Saudi Arabia. His sides have won their last four such matches, keeping a clean sheet each time.

Since their return to the Premier League in 2022, Morgan Gibbs-White has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other Nottingham Forest player (28 – 10 goals, 18 assists). His 18 assists in this time are twice as many as any other Forest player, while in the competition’s history only Ian Woan has provided more for the Tricky Trees (27).

Chris Wood has scored 11 goals in 16 Premier League games for Nottingham Forest under Nuno Espírito Santo, having scored just four times in 22 appearances under Steve Cooper. Wood has also been involved in six Premier League goals against Bournemouth (4 goals, 2 assists), only having a hand in more against West Ham (8) and Wolves (7).

Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke scored a hat-trick in this exact fixture last season and has four goals in two Premier League appearances at the City Ground overall. In the competition’s history, only Ole Gunnar Solskjær has scored more away goals against Nottingham Forest (5).