Nottingham Forest welcome Bournemouth to the City Ground this Saturday as the new Premier League season begins
Pundit Paul Merson is of the belief that Nottingham Forest’s opening day meeting with Bournemouth is already a ‘six pointer’ – even though the game will act as the curtain raiser for both teams in their respective new Premier League campaigns.
Forest welcome the Cherries to the City Ground on Saturday as they begin their third straight season back in the top flight, having narrowly avoided relegation last year with two victories in their final three matches of the season.
Merson doesn’t expect Forest’s fortunes to dramatically improve in the new campaign; as he describes it, Forest, and Bournemouth, will be the sort of clubs who newly promoted Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton will target to take points off. That said, and with Bournemouth’s sale of Dominic Solanke in mind, he anticipates a narrow home win this weekend.
“I know there are 37 games for either team after this one, but both Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have got to start winning games quickly. This is already a six-pointer,” he told SportsKeeda.
“Dominic Solanke brought Bournemouth a lot of money, but staying in the Premier League every season is worth more. That’s a bad sell for me, and it’s going to put them in a difficult situation. This could be a long season for Bournemouth.
“There’s not a lot of difference between these two teams. The teams that have been promoted will fancy their chances against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. I think Forest are going to win this game.”
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth
