Premier League: Can Bournemouth Keep Up Without Solanke?

Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth

Two teams that finished in the bottom half of the Premier League standings last season are set to go head-to-head at City Ground this weekend, as Nottingham Forest host Bournemouth on Saturday.

Nottingham Forest did a commendable job of maintaining their top-flight status, finishing in 17^th place despite losing points after breaching the league’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), and they will enter this season with a clean slate and a revamped squad.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth will find it hard to outdo their surprising 12^th-place finish last term because they no longer have arguably their best player in Dominic Solanke. However, that’s okay as long as they don’t get relegated to the Championship.

Which team will get their first win of the 2024-25 campaign? Continue reading below for our SBOTOP preview.

 

Talking Points

Nottingham Forest are stronger in the final third

Because they only scored 49 league goals last season, Nottingham Forest decided to strengthen their attacking corps, and that’s exactly what they did this offseason.

Nottingham Forest were able to sign Jota Silva, aka Portuguese Jack Grealish, on a four-year contract after paying a €7 million transfer fee. He is the team’s sixth summer addition after Carlos Miguel, Nikola Milenkovic, Eric da Silva, Elliot Anderson, and Marko Stamenic.

Jota Silva recorded 20 goals over 83 appearances for Vitoria in the past two seasons, including 15 in last season’s breakout campaign. The 25-year-old was eventually called up by the Portuguese national team because of his superb performances.

Jota Silva will join a fairly loaded frontline, so he’ll fight for his minutes with Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Anthony Elanga.

Chris Wood was Forest’s top scorer last season with 15 goals, while Gibbs-White and Elanga were the team’s top playmakers, having combined for 19 assists.

Nottingham Forest supporters are also hoping that Taiwo Awoniyi stays fit throughout 2024-25 because he was hampered by a groin injury that eventually needed surgery.

Despite this, the Nigerian international still managed to put up six goals and three assists last term.

 

Who will shoulder the scoring for Bournemouth?

The exit of Dominic Solanke was a huge blow for the Cherries because he was their talisman last season, scoring 19 Premier League goals. The Englishman was sold for a cool £65 million fee to Tottenham, so everybody else has to step up.

The prime candidates to do so are Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo, who combined for 17 goals and four assists in all competitions last season.

After a breakout campaign in 2023-24, Antoine Semenyo was handed a five-year contract extension, and he managed to score against Arsenal during their exhibition match earlier this summer.

Justin Kluivert, on the other hand, is back from a spell on the sidelines, finding the back of the net in their 3-2 victory over Girona on Saturday.

If Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert don’t get it going, head coach Andoni Iraola will likely call on Luis Sinisterra, Daniel Jebbison, and Marcus Tavernier to ease the huge scoring load.

 

History

Nottingham Forest were unable to defeat Bournemouth last season. Forest lost 3-2 at City Ground before being held by the Cherries to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture.

This means that Nottingham Forest are winless in their last eight league matches against Bournemouth (D3, L5), including a three-game losing streak at home.

These two teams will meet on the opening matchday of a season since their 0-0 draw at City Ground in League One in 2007-08. Forest have lost their last five opening league games, conceding exactly two goals every time.

In contrast, Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last four Premier League season openers (W2, D2) after losing each of their first three such games.

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2024 odds predict a tight contest between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. The hosts have the slight edge at 2.32, whereas the Cherries are not far behind at 2.73, and a draw is at 3.29 in the 1X2 market.

Other than our recommended bet above, alternatives like Total Goals 2-3 at 1.95, Over 2.50 at 1.78, and Over 2.75 at 2.00 are viable, as goals and Premier League 2024 highlights are expected from both sides.

The hosts are likely to score more and claim all three points because they have more firepower than their visitors. Nottingham Forest are eager to put on a show in front of the City Ground faithful, and their home fans will likely get it this weekend.

   

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