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 last season in August last year when they played out a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
Match preview
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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.
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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.
Team News
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Bournemouth's lengthy injury list includes Evanilson (foot), Enes Unal (ACL), Alex Scott (knee), James Hill (hamstring), Marcos Senesi (thigh), Julian Araujo (thigh), Marcus Tavernier (thigh), Luis Sinisterra (thigh) and Adam Smith (muscle), while Julio Soler is away on international duty with Argentina at the South American Under-20 Championship.
Iraola is therefore expected to stick with the same side that beat Newcastle last weekend, with Lewis Cook set to continue at right-back and join Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez in the back four.
Antoine Semenyo scored for Bournemouth in the 1-1 draw at Forest back in August and he is set to link up with Kluivert, David Brooks and Dango Ouattara in attack.
As for Nottingham Forest, long-term absentee Ibrahima Sangare (hamstring) remains sidelined, while they are sweating over the fitness of winger Callum Hudson-Odoi who is nursing a groin problem and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Either Morgan Gibbs-White or Elliot Anderson could be tasked with operating on the left flank if Hudson-Odoi misses out. Anthony Elanga could also move over to the left, but he is likely to stay put on the right wing.
Chris Wood and Murillo have both extended their Forest contracts this week and are expected to start again up front and in the heart of defence respectively, while one change Nuno will consider is recalling Ryan Yates at the expense of Nicolas Dominguez.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie, Adams; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Ouattara
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
We say: Bournemouth 1-1 Nottingham Forest
The spirits are high in both camps ahead of Saturday's contest and they will back themselves to come away with maximum points having already pulled off some impressive scalps in the top flight this term.
However, there is little to separate these two teams and we can see Nottingham Forest's robust backline frustrating Bournemouth in a closely-fought contest that may end all square.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
