Nottingham Forest welcome Bournemouth to the City Ground for their opening fixture of the 2024-25 Premier League campaign on Saturday afternoon.
The only previous occasion when these two teams have butted heads in an opening league fixture was back in August 2007 when they played out a goalless stalemate in League One.
Match preview
© Imago
Nottingham Forest experienced an eventful 2023-24 campaign both on and off the pitch, but they managed to avoid relegation and finished 17th in the Premier League table, despite being deducted four points for breaching the division's Profit and Sustainability rules.
Nuno Espirito Santo was brought in to replace Steve Cooper in December, and although his appointment was not warmly welcomed by some quarters of the Forest fanbase, he steered the club to safety and has since been backed in the transfer market.
Indeed, six fresh faces have arrived at the City Ground this summer, including the club-record addition of midfielder Elliot Anderson, and more new signings are set to arrive before the window slams shut on August 30.
Forest took part in six pre-season friendlies over the summer, winning three, drawing two and losing one; they most recently beat Conference League champions Olympiacos by a thrilling 4-3 scoreline in Greece last weekend.
Nuno and co will be keen to make a bright start to the new Premier League campaign, but they head into Saturday's clash against Bournemouth having failed to win any of their last eight league meetings with the Cherries, while they have also lost their opening league game in each of the last five seasons, conceding exactly two goals on each occasion.
© Imago
Bournemouth made the somewhat surprise decision to part ways with Gary O'Neil at the start of last season and appointed Andoni Iraola, who began his reign as Cherries boss with a nine-game winless run in the top flight.
However, the Spaniard turned Bournemouth's fortunes around and ended the 2023-24 campaign being nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Season award after guiding the Cherries to 12th place and a club-record 48-point total, finishing a whopping 22 points clear of the relegation zone.
Like Forest, Bournemouth have recruited six new players so far this summer, but they are preparing for the 2024-25 campaign without last season's top scorer Dominic Solanke, who has completed a £65m move to Tottenham Hotspur; the Cherries have since been linked with Porto's Evanilson as a replacement.
Iraola and co failed to win their opening two friendly fixtures of the summer against Wrexham and Arsenal, but they ended their pre-season on a high by beating La Liga duo Rayo Vallecano and Girona, securing a 3-2 home victory against the latter last weekend.
Bournemouth picked up four points across two games against Nottingham Forest last season, including all three from a 3-2 away victory in December, and they head to the City Ground this weekend having not lost their opening Premier League fixture in each of the last four seasons.
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Imago
Nottingham Forest were one of a number of clubs who struggles with injuries last season, but they head into this weekend with a clean bill of health, meaning that Nuno has a full squad available for selection.
Ryan Yates (2), Chris Wood and Anthony Elanga were all on the scoresheet against Olympiacos last weekend and are in contention to start on Saturday; the latter two could be joined in attack by Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Matz Sels is set to start the new season as Forest's first-choice goalkeeper despite the arrival of 6ft 8in Brazilian Carlos Miguel - the tallest player in the Premier League - while Nikola Milenkovic is poised to make his competitive debut for the club in central defence alongside Murillo.
As for Bournemouth, Enes Unal, Tyler Adams and David Brooks are all sidelined with injuries, while goalkeeper Neto and defender Marcos Senesi will both be assessed ahead of kickoff; the latter sustained a nasty cut to his face in last weekend's friendly win over Girona.
Highly-rated summer signing Dean Huijsen, 19, could be handed a start alongside Illia Zabarnyi at centre-back if Senesi is not deemed fit to feature, while the potential absence of Neto could see Mark Travers begin between the sticks.
Antoine Semenyo is expected to be the man tasked with filling the void left behind by Solanke in the short term before Bournemouth recruit a replacement, and he could be joined in the final third by Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert and Luis Sinisterra, who scored two goals in the Cherries' last two pre-season matches.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina; Yates, Danilo; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Tavernier, Kluivert, Sinisterra; Semenyo
What have the managers said?
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo
© Reuters
"It was one of the main objectives we had, to go away in pre-season and work on things we don't usually have time for, tactically, mentally and physically. The relationship between us and the players, and the bond the players have built is very nice.
"It's always the main idea to improve our game. The results in pre-season don't mean a lot, now the real competition starts, where we have the moment to evaluate what we need to still improve.
"There's always a chance to do things better. We want to compete well and be a team that is able to control all moments of the game with the ball and without the ball.
"We know that Bournemouth have a strong squad. (Dominic) Solanke is a good player who is not going to be involved in the game, but they have quality players all over the pitch."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola
© Reuters
"For us without Dom, my job is going to be more difficult because he's a hell of a player, he performed at a very high level.
"But there is also a personal side that you want the best for him and we will want him to score a lot of goals, to win [against] every opposition, to be as good as he is, and I'm sure he will be because his behaviour has always been top.
"I think [Evanilson] has the experience, he's still young but he has experience in the top level. He's played the Champions League, he's had his first games with the national team. If the signing is completed, for sure, it will be a very good signing for us."
We say: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Bournemouth
Five of the last six competitive meetings between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have seen both teams score, and another entertaining contest with plenty of goalmouth action could be on the cards this weekend.
Although Bournemouth will be without Solanke, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season, they have shown in pre-season that they still pose a threat in the final third and they may do enough to claim a share of the spoils this time around.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
