Bournemouth will look to cause an upset as they welcome Tottenham in the early kickoff on Saturday. In game two, the Cherries were defeated 3-1 at home by Liverpool. Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs defeated Manchester United 2-0 to earn their first victory under his leadership.
Preview (Bournemouth vs. Tottenham)
Andoni Iraola’s team had a two-minute shot disallowed before Antoine Semenyo scored the game’s first goal seconds later. The Cherries’ dominance eventually began to wane, though, as Liverpool turned the match around. They did so with goals from Mohamed Salah’s rebounded penalty and Luis Diaz’s acrobatic equalizer. This made Iraola wait a bit longer for his first Premier League victory. Bournemouth enters game three on a six-match winless record in the top tier of English football. They have one point from their first two games in 2023–24. They currently hold the 14th spot in the table—not that their position matters at this juncture.
Furthermore, the Cherries have only won one of their previous six Premier League home games. They haven’t kept a clean sheet at home since blanking Liverpool in March. It is hardly encouraging before the arrival of Postecoglou’s revitalized Tottenham. Following a competitive match against Brentford and their similarly attack-minded head coach Thomas Frank, in which both teams were evenly balanced, Spurs returned to their home ground to receive a Manchester United team that had been thanking its lucky stars for an improbable victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Lilywhites have scored and given up goals in each of their previous seven away games. They have only come out on top once—against relegated Leeds United—during that run. Nevertheless, they have now managed to make the net ripple in 14 straight Premier League matches. During the 2022–23 season, Bournemouth and Tottenham played two five-goal thrillers. Tottenham won the first one 3-2 at the Vitality. The Cherries exacted revenge by winning the second one in North London under Cristian Stellini’s dreadful management.
Team News
Since leaving Anfield empty-handed, Bournemouth has signed Tyler Adams to their midfield lineup from Leeds United for a rumored £23 million. However, the USA international is still recovering from a hamstring issue and will have to wait to make his debut. Adams joins a long list of injured players for the Cherries, including fellow newcomer Alex Scott (knee), Marcus Tavernier (unspecified), Dango Ouattara (ankle), Ryan Fredericks (calf), Emiliano Marcondes (foot), and Lewis Cook (groin), who is also doubtful for Tottenham’s visit.
At Anfield, Iraola’s choice to start Semenyo alongside Dominic Solanke initially paid off. The pair should stick together as Ryan Christie’s replacement Hamed Traore pushes to replace Christie. James Maddison, a new midfielder for Tottenham, was seen using crutches after the win over Manchester United and was apparently sent for scans earlier this week, despite having said to reporters last weekend that his aides were simply precautionary. Even so, as Bryan Gil (groin), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), and Alfie Whiteman (ankle) are all still recovering from procedures, Spurs supporters are holding their breath as they wait for updates on Maddison’s condition.
Manor Solomon, Giovani Lo Celso, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will be available if Maddison is unable to recover in time, but Postecoglou should try to avoid changing a winning formula if at all possible because Pedro Porro is once again holding Emerson Royal at bay. Although worries about Maddison’s fitness are annoying, Tottenham can equally dominate a weak Bournemouth defense following their recent victory over Man United in which their full-backs and midfielders were the stars of the show. Iraola’s Cherries can still excite their supporters, but Postecoglou ought to prevail in this matchup of the freshly hired Premier League coaches.
Bournemouth 1 – 3 Tottenham
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