AFC Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest Prediction: The two surprise packages clash

Two teams that have ruffled the feathers of the big boys in the Premier League this season are AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, who meet at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday (15:00). The hosts are seventh and head into this off the back of an outstanding 4-1 victory at Newcastle United last weekend, while Forest are third and six points behind leaders Liverpool.

Read on for my AFC Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest prediction, where you will also find the latest match odds and team news.

AFC Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest Odds

Bournemouth have won six of their last 10 outings in the Premier League, but only two have come at home. They are 11/10 to emerge victorious here.

Forest are 5/2, which has an implied probability of 28.6%, to come away with the three points and they have won each of their last four matches on the road in the top flight.

Bournemouth have drawn four of their last seven games in the league, and the stalemate can be backed at 13/5 (27.8%). Three of the Cherries' previous four appearances in the Premier League have produced over 3.5 goals, a selection that struck in Forest's latest encounter with Southampton last week. It is marketed at 21/10 for Saturday.

Football Odds

Team News

Cherries boss Andoni Iraola still has a lengthy injury list to deal with heading into the weekend, which is what made last weekend's result that much more impressive.

Evanilson (foot), Enes Unal (ACL), Alex Scott (knee), James Hill (hamstring), Marcos Senesi, Julian Araujo, Marcus Tavernier, Luis Sinisterra (all thigh) and Adam Smith (muscle) are all confined to the treatment room presently.

Another absentee is Julio Soler, who is currently representing Argentina at the South American Under-20 Championship.

Limited options means Iraola is likely to name the same XI that dismantled Newcastle, which fans are unlikely to have any complaints about. Lewis Cook would then continue as a makeshift right-back, joining Ilia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez in the back four, while Tyler Adams and Ryan Christie man the engine room.

Justin Kluivert netted his second Premier League hat-trick of the season on Tyneside, and he will continue in the number 10 role, supported by Antoine Semenyo, who netted the equaliser against Forest when the teams met back in August, David Brooks and Dango Ouattara.

Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) remains out of action for Forest, while Nuno Espirito Santo will be sweating over the fitness of winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was forced off with a groin issue in the first half against Southampton last time out.

If declared fit to play, the front four should remain intact with him featuring alongside Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood, who has just penned a new contract with the Tricky Trees.

Another player who signed a new deal this week was defender Murillo, and both signify the club's intent for the future. Nuno rarely tweaks his successful formula, but in recent fixtures we have seen him swap captain Ryan Yates and Nicolas Dominguez in the midfield to partner Elliot Anderson.

Draw @ 13/5

This will be a fascinating contest between two teams who are looking to disrupt the status quo in the Premier League. Forest are gunning for a place in the Champions League and perhaps even more if Liverpool were to slip up, while Bournemouth are firmly in the race to secure Europa League football.

With teams tightly packed around them in their current positions, neither will feel like they can afford to drop points at this stage. They are two good sides stacked with quality, even if the Cherries are missing several of their stars to injury. They showed last week that they can still deliver excellent performances, and they completely bullied Newcastle on their own patch.

They will be wary of Forest's away form heading into this, but they are unbeaten in their last 10, and have already taken a point off them this campaign - which did come on the opening weekend in August.

I think we could see a repeat of the outcome here. They both have a lot of attacking talent and I can see them cancelling each other out as a result. In the grand scheme of things, a point here would be considered a great result for both clubs.

Under 2.5 goals @ 1/1

These two teams were involved in high-scoring crackers last week, but I am not expecting a flurry this time around. I think they will show each other respect given how well their seasons have gone up to this point, and neither will want to drop points at this stage.

Forest boast an impressive back line, who have conceded just 22 goals in the top flight, while Bournemouth's tally is only at 26. I believe this could be a tight affair, particularly as I am backing a draw, which could mean a low-scoring contest.

Each of the Cherries' last four league games at the Vitality have seen less than three goals scored, while four of Forest's previous six encounters in the top flight have produced under 2.5 goals.

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