Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest will be desperate to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they face off at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.

The curtains will fall on Gameweek 9 of the 2025/26 season on Sunday. The action on the day starts with four simultaneous matches, including Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest at the Vitality Stadium, before ending with the clash between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

The 2025/26 season has witnessed many surprise packages, with Bournemouth among those. The Cherries entered Gameweek 9 in the top four after losing only one game thus far. That defeat came on the opening night of the ongoing campaign, with Liverpool escaping with three points. Since then, Andoni Iraola’s men have been on a seven-match unbeaten run, with the latest result a hard-fought 3-3 stalemate with Crystal Palace.

On the other hand, Nottingham Forest may have become a butt of jokes in the 2025/26 season after already parting ways with two managers. Sean Dyche has taken over at the Midlands club this week, and the team responded with a 2-0 win over FC Porto in the UEFA Europa League. The Tricky Trees will now be eager to find some semblance of stability under the English tactician.

The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 5-0 win for Bournemouth, with Dango Ouattara scoring a match-winning hat-trick. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Bournemouth

Andoni Iraola has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Bournemouth manager may be bereft of the services of only three first-team players vs Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

David Brooks is closing in on returning from a hamstring issue, and he faces a late fitness test to determine his availability. Additionally, Julio Soler is back in contention after his involvement in the Under-20 World Cup. However, Evanilson (calf) and Enes Unal (knee) remain in the treatment room, although they should be back soon.

Djordje Petrovic is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Bournemouth lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The backline will feature Alex Jimenez, Bafode Diakite, Marcos Senesi, and Adrien Truffert.

As for the midfield unit, Tyler Adams will pair up with Alex Scott in the double pivot, with Justin Kluivert reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo will be the two wide attackers, with Eli Junior Kroupi continuing to lead the line for Bournemouth against Nottingham Forest in Evanilson’s absence.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Jimenez, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert; Adams, Scott; Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo; Kroupi

Nottingham Forest

Unlike his counterpart in the Bournemouth dugout, Sean Dyche has a new injury concern that is hampering his preparations ahead of the trip to the Vitality Stadium. The Nottingham Forest manager may be without four first-team players on Sunday.

Dyche is sweating over Oleksandr Zinchenko’s fitness after he sustained a groin injury against FC Porto. Chris Wood’s availability is also uncertain due to a knee problem. Meanwhile, Ola Aina (hamstring) and Dilane Bakwa (knock) remain in the treatment room.

Matz Sels will take his spot between the sticks, with Nottingham Forest lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Bournemouth. The backline will feature Nicolo Savona, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo, and Neco Williams.

As for the midfield unit, Douglas Luiz will likely pair up with Elliot Anderson in the double pivot. Morgan Gibbs-White will reprise the no. 10 role, and he will often drop into deeper areas out of possession. Finally, Igor Jesus will spearhead the Nottingham Forest attack against Bournemouth, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dan Ndoye being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Luiz; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

Key Stats

• Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last 10 league games vs Nottingham Forest (W6 D4) since losing both Championship meetings in their 2014/15 promotion season. The Tricky Trees have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Bournemouth (D3 L7), beating them 2-1 in the Championship in August 2014.
• Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games (W4 D3), the longest current ongoing run in the competition. It is their fourth run of seven or more matches without defeat in the top flight (with three of those coming under Andoni Iraola), only having a longer run between November and January last season (11). On the other hand, Nottingham Forest are winless in their last seven Premier League outings (D2 L5), with only Wolverhampton Wanderers currently on a longer run (12).
• Nottingham Forest have conceded the joint-most goals in the second half of Premier League games this season (11). On the other hand, Bournemouth have conceded a higher share of goals after half-time than anyone else (82 per cent – 9/11).
• In their first spell in the Premier League from 2015/16 to 2019/20, Bournemouth won only 32.3 per cent of their games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (10/31). Since their return to the top flight in 2022, they have won 68.4 per cent of their games against sides in the bottom three (13/19).
• Sean Dyche has lost his three most recent Premier League games against Bournemouth, having won six successive ties against the Cherries before this run. His most recent Premier League match in charge of Everton was a 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth in January last season.
• 82 of Chris Wood’s 91 Premier League goals have come under the tutelage of either Sean Dyche (49) or Nuno Espirito Santo (33).

Player to Watch

Antoine Semenyo

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While Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Eli Junior Kroupi were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Antoine Semenyo as the Player to Watch for Sunday’s Premier League clash between Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest at the Vitality Stadium.

The Ghanaian international has been exceptional thus far in the 2025/26 season, and only Erling Haaland (12) has been involved in more Premier League goals than him this term (9 – G6 A3). The London-born attacker has also scored in his last two games against Nottingham Forest. So, Semenyo will be the go-to player in the final third for Andoni Iraola on Sunday.

Prediction

Bournemouth 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest may have shown signs of experiencing the “new manager bounce” in the 2-0 win over FC Porto. However, the match also displayed the lack of cohesion in offensive moves, although winning and scoring two penalties was a significant positive.

Meanwhile, toppling an in-form Bournemouth will be a tall order, considering Andoni Iraola has forged a team that has become hard to beat, even for the best of Premier League teams. So, while the away side will give the cherries a run for their money, they will not have enough quality to clinch the much-desired three points. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Iraola and his charges.