Bournemouth vs. Nottingham Forest Predictions: Two tips in this potential automatic promotion decider

Tuesday night sees Bournemouth host Nottingham Forest in what is arguably the biggest game of the season for both clubs, the visitors will leapfrog Scott Parker’s side if they manage to leave with all three points, Bournemouth have the advantage in the table but the visitors are the most inform side in the league.

Cards immediately spring to mind for this game given how much is on the line, therefore for my main selection I’ll be heading over to William Hill’s bet builder option. The reverse fixture earlier on in the season was feisty, five yellows and a red was shown at the City Ground which saw this same bet land.

When these two sides play at home and away respectively in the Championship cards have been a frequent occurrence, matches at the Vitality Stadium average 4.67 cards per 90 whereas it’s slightly less when Steve Cooper’s men are on the road, their matches average 4.62 cards which is still a solid statistic.

Scott Parker’s side average 2.19 cards for per home game and have received multiple cards in 15 of 21 matches, they have also been booked after the break on 15 different occasions. Both games between themselves and Fulham saw this bet land this campaign.

Nottingham Forest haven't been as card happy compared to their opponents come Tuesday night, they average 1.76 cards for per away trip which has seen them pick up two or more in 10 matches from 21. They have been on superb form winning nine of the last ten in the division, they travelled to league leaders Fulham in the most recent away trip which saw them take all three points so confidence levels will be high.

With everything on the line and tensions set to run high the likelihood of a red card to be shown may be an angle to get behind, the reverse fixture back in August saw Bournemouth end the game with ten men. Bournemouth have had five red cards with Nottingham Forest being shown three this season.

The huge clash is being shown on Sky Sports which may add an extra bit of fight to the contest. If the hosts win they’ll be just a single game away from getting back into the top flight after a 23 year spell away from the greatest league on earth.

Neither of these clubs will want to settle for the play-offs given the quality of the sides looking to confirm a top six spot. Both teams have put in huge amounts of effort to reach where they currently are over the 44 games they have played and certainly wont give anything less than 100%.

Both Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have the sturdiest defences in the league, a single goal could be enough for either side to win in this mouthwatering clash. Let’s hope the teams are fired up and the referee dishes out the cards at the Vitality Stadium.