Vitor Pereira warned that Nottingham Forest would not take risks as they prepare to face Bournemouth, a side Forest have never beaten in seven Premier League meetings — three draws and four defeats — a run that underlines how stubborn the matchup has become.
Forest’s manager spoke ahead of the fixture about team availability, revealing that "Murillo stays without training with the team. Ola (Aina) started today on the pitch" and adding bluntly, "We are in a moment of the season where we can’t take risks because this is a game we want to win." He also confirmed limited options for other players, saying: "I think Dan (Ndoye) has worked two times with the team, but we will see. I think that is all."
The weight of the recent numbers is stark: Bournemouth arrive unbeaten in their last 17 Premier League games, while Forest had scored 19 goals in their previous seven top-flight matches before the Bournemouth fixture. That contrast — an opponent hard to beat and a home side suddenly productive in attack — frames the match as a collision of form lines.
Bournemouth are chasing only their second league double over Forest; their first came in the 2021-22 Championship campaign. Already since 2021 the visitors have reversed long-term fortunes at the City Ground: Bournemouth were winless in their first eight away league games at Nottingham between 1950 and 2021, but they have won three of their four visits to the City Ground since 2021, with one draw.
There are other recent markers that matter. Forest’s 3-2 defeat at Manchester United last time out ended an eight-game unbeaten Premier League run, while Bournemouth showed they can close a season with a result when they beat Leicester 2-0 on MD38 last season. Those facts together suggest neither side is fragile on form; each brings momentum and a different kind of threat.
At the same time the matchup holds its contradictions. Bournemouth’s 17-game unbeaten run is impressive, yet they have drawn 17 Premier League games this season — the joint-most in a 38-game campaign — which underlines an ability to avoid defeat but also a tendency to share points. Forest, for all their recent goal-scoring — Morgan Gibbs-White has been involved in 10 goals in his last nine Premier League appearances, scoring eight and setting up two of those strikes — have never turned that efficiency into a Premier League victory over Bournemouth.
Pereira returned repeatedly to caution. "It’s not a final or a game to decide big things. Of course we want to win the game, we want three points and finish in the positions in the table," he said, and added: "We will do everything to get a good result, but it is not possible to take risks at this moment." His tone framed this as a careful, pragmatic selection problem as much as a tactical one, with Ola Aina’s return to grass work after being out since 30 April a possible boost but not a guarantee.
The clearest tension is this: Forest now possess momentum in front of goal and a midfielder in red-hot form; yet the head-to-head record and Bournemouth’s long unbeaten sequence create a barrier Forest have not yet crossed in the Premier League. If Forest get the win, it will be the first against Bournemouth in the top flight and a vindication of their recent scoring run. If Bournemouth avoid defeat, their unbeaten run will stretch and they will edge closer to a rare modern-season double over a top-flight opponent.
The deciding figure may be the player on whom both clubs rely for creativity and goals. Morgan Gibbs-White’s recent output — eight goals and two assists in nine appearances — gives Forest a plausible route to break the deadlock in a fixture where they have so often come up short. Pereira’s message, framed by the availability updates and his insistence on caution, makes clear what Forest believe they have to do: press their scoring luck without risking the balance that has brought them goals in recent weeks. That balance, not sentiment, will decide whether the seven-game Premier League hoodoo ends.
