Forest Face Bournemouth Looking To Extend Freedman Run

Bournemouth will be looking to close the gap on the Championship`s automatic promotion places with a win away at Nottingham Forest this evening (19:45). Eddie Howe`s men currently sit in fourth position in the second tier of English football though a win at the City Ground could see them move to within a point of second placed Middlesbrough.

Forest sit in ninth place following the appointment of former Bolton Wanderers boss Dougie Freedman but are a massive 10 points from Wolves who sit in eighth. A victory would, nonetheless, give them a three point buffer over Blackburn in 10th and close the gap on the play-offs to 12 points as they look to make a late bid for the promotion lottery.

The Cherries superior league standing means that they are the 11/8 favourites with most bookmakers (betfred, Coral, paddy Power, Totesport) to travel back to Dorset with all three points. bet365 have the best price on a Forest triumph at 11/5 whilst a draw can be picked up at odds of 13/5 (Numerous).

The last time the two sides met was back in August, Forest running out the 2-1 winners over the home side at the Goldsands Stadium. Callum Wilson opened the scoring for the Cherries in the 58th minute following a goalless first half. Britt Assombalonga equalised just under 10 minutes later and Matty Fryatt grabbed the winner for then manager Stuart Pearce.

Tonight`s hosts are currently unbeaten under their new manager who was brought in to replace club legend Pearce. The Nottinghamshire side have won three of their four matches since the Scot`s takeover at the beginning of February and were unlucky to see their away match at Blackpool end in a 4-4 draw.

Freedman`s men have hit the back of the net 14 times in these four encounters, that`s an average of just over three a game. Coral have odds of 11/2 on Forest hitting over 2.5 past Bournemouth at home tonight, whilst they also have the best price on the team scoring over 3.5 at 16/1. That price is also available at bet365.

The club`s top scorers in this period have been Henri Lansbury and Chris Burke who have both scored four times in as many clashes. The former has scored one goal in each game and is available at 4/1 with betfred to add to his tally tonight.

Burke grabbed a brace in his side`s 4-1 victory over Freedman`s former club Bolton. The 31-year-old winger can be backed at 60/1 with paddy Power to score two or more goals against the Cherries again tonight. He has also twice contributed the final goal of the game in this four match period, again being available at 16/1 (bet365) to be the last goalscorer of the match.

Whilst the hosts are unbeaten in February, Bournemouth are going through something of a rough patch having managed to only secure one win in their four games of the month. Their other three games ended in two draws and a defeat.

Despite this, Eddie Howe`s men`s recent away record remains solid having scooped three Championship victories and two losses on the road in their last five away games in the league. Eight goals were scored in this handful of clashes with previous Forest scorer Wilson finding himself with three.

Consequentially, the 22-year-old former Coventry City striker is available at odds of 7/4 (betfred) to continue this positive streak of form in front of goal. Having bagged a brace away at Wigan in this run of away games, he is also 51/10 (888sport, unibet) to grab two or more goals this evening.

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25/02/2015     © Frixo 2024