Two newly-promoted sides seeking to kickstart faltering Premier League campaigns meet at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon, as Nottingham Forest play host to Bournemouth.
The Tricky Trees were hit for six against champions Manchester City in midweek, while the managerless Cherries managed to hold Wolverhampton Wanderers to a goalless draw.
Match preview
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Forest fans would have undoubtedly travelled to the Etihad Stadium in hope rather than expectation on Wednesday evening, but a first-half display of dominance from one man in Erling Braut Haaland quickly killed any hopes of a shock result.
The 22-year-old scored his seventh, eighth and ninth Premier League goals before half time to ensure a healthy lead for Pep Guardiola's side, who added another trio of goals in the second period through Julian Alvarez (2) and a Joao Cancelo thunderbolt.
Forest's significant summer outlay is yet to translate into a consistent string of results, and Steve Cooper's men are languishing in 15th in the table with four points to their name, but staying clear of the relegation zone can be viewed as a successful start.
Not many bets would have been placed on Forest getting the better of City or Tottenham Hotspur, but Bournemouth are now preparing to visit a ground where West Ham United have already come up short, and defeat to Spurs was the Tricky Trees' first league defeat at the City Ground in 2022.
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Despite being handed one of the most difficult starts to the season against Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool, the Bournemouth board did not hesitate to pull the trigger on Scott Parker, who was not afraid to be critical of his side's transfer approach last month.
Speculation that Parker's sacking was not wholly down to results dominated the talk coming out of the Vitality as Gary O'Neil tried to steady the ship after the 9-0 demolition at Liverpool, and the Cherries arguably experienced some of the new manager bounce effect in midweek.
Wolves went agonisingly close to stealing all three points through both Matheus Nunes and Daniel Podence - the latter of whom saw his header cleared off the line by Lloyd Kelly - but Bournemouth fought valiantly and held on for a 0-0 draw.
The Cherries find themselves level on points with Forest at this early stage and one place below their upcoming opponents in 16th due to their -14 goal difference - unsurprisingly the worst in the league - and it is now four games without a goal for Bournemouth since their opening success over Aston Villa.
Following Bournemouth's return to the Championship in 2020, the Cherries took 10 points from 12 on offer against Nottingham Forest in the last two seasons, including a 2-1 win at the City Ground last August before the promotion-sealing 1-0 win back in May.
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Team News
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Three new signings in Orel Mangala, Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards are once again set to miss out for the Tricky Trees this weekend, with none of the trio expected back within the next couple of weeks.
Atletico Madrid loanee Renan Lodi endured a baptism of fire at the Etihad in midweek but should still fend off competition from Harry Toffolo on the left, but changes could be afoot up top.
Jesse Lingard, Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis are all in with strong chances of returning to the first XI, especially with Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson both lasting less than an hour against City.
Forest were unsurprisingly active right up to the last on deadline day, bringing in Willy Boly, Loic Bade and Josh Bowler - sending the latter out to Olympiacos on loan - and the former two will eye debuts here.
As for Bournemouth, David Brooks took another significant step forward in his comeback from stage two Hodgkin lymphoma by featuring for the Under-21s in a 2-0 loss to Brentford this week, and a return to senior action for the 25-year-old could soon be in the pipeline.
Junior Stanislas, Ben Pearson and Joe Rothwell are still confined to the medical bay for the visitors, and O'Neil should be reluctant to make many changes to the side that impressively held Wolves in midweek.
A similar defensive formula would therefore restrict new arrival Marcos Senesi to the bench, while Neto should hold his place in goal after keeping a clean sheet on his Premier League debut.
Southampton defender Jack Stephens moved to Bournemouth on loan on transfer deadline day, and the Englishman will be a strong candidate to start this one.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Worrall, McKenna, Kouyate; Williams, Yates, Freuler, Lodi; Lingard; Dennis, Johnson
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Kelly, Mepham, Zemura; Tavernier, Lerma, Cook, Billing, Christie; Solanke
We say: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth
Bournemouth's continued struggles on the attacking front could cost them dear against a side whom they have enjoyed relative success over in recent memory, even if Cooper's side were torn apart by the reigning champions in midweek.
With a bench stacked full of notable options for change - especially in the final third - Cooper's men can hope to glean revenge over the Cherries for May's 1-0 defeat with victory of their own by a similarly slender scoreline.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
