Bournemouth welcome Swansea City to the Vitaly Stadium for a critical league clash on penultimate weekend of Premier League season.
Eddie Howe knows that victory will see his Cherries side safe whilst Swansea can put pressure on Southampton (who play in teatime match) by getting the three points.
Team news
Bournemouth could welcome defenders, Tyrone Mings and Adam Smith back from injury here.
Harry Arter is doubtful with an Achilles injury.
Winger, Junior Stanislas is ruled out for rest of season with a knee injury.
Swansea could have Luciano Narsingh and Frederico Fernandez available again after recovering from ankle and foot injuries respectively.
Leroy Fer (calf), Wilfried Bony (knee) and Kyle Bartley (knee) remain absent for final three games of season.
Form
Bournemouth have lost their last three games, having been unbeaten in 12 of previous 14 league games beforehand. Two of those three games came against Liverpool (a) and Manchester United (h).
At home, Bournemouth have won just one of their last five, drawing and losing two apiece.
Swansea are also struggling, having not won in last six league games.
Four of those games have been away from home though, with two of those trips being to both Manchester clubs, where they lost 7-0 on combined aggregate (2-0 at United & 5-0 at City).
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth are unbeaten in five previous Premier League meetings, winning three and drawing two.
- In two top flight meetings at Dean Court, the Cherries have beaten Swansea on both occasions.
- Swansea have had the least number of shots (288), on target (86) and corners (131) this season in the Premier League.
- Bournemouth are yet to score a goal on counter attack.
- Joshua King has scored three goals for the Cherries in this fixture in England’s top flight, more than any other player on either team.
Where can game be won or lost?
| Per Game Average | Bournemouth (home) | Swansea (away) |
| Corners | 5.78 | 2.72 |
| Fouls | 8.61 | 9.5 |
| Shots | 14.11 | 6.11 |
| Shots on Target | 4.28 | 1.78 |
| Goals | 1.39 | 0.61 |
| Yellow Cards | 1.67 | 1.28 |
| Red Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Goals per First Half % | 28 | 36.4 |
| Goals per Second Half % | 72 | 63.6 |
Bournemouth definitely look like they could deliver a crushing here because Swansea just don’t like they can compete all over the pitch.
To be frank, Swansea need to get to half time level or in lead otherwise I can see a Cherries onslaught in second half.
The fact that they score more away in first 45 minutes than Bournemouth do at home will provide some hope but they need to be solid in defence as their away foul average suggests.
Another positive for Carlos Carvalhal is that his side are more disciplined than the Cherries, so could try and frustrate Bournemouth into losing their cool then delivering some sucker punch counter attacks.
Unless they do those things, I can’t see where Swansea realistically can win this game.
Prediction
Although they’re are probably safe as they’re now, I fancy Bournemouth to ensure that there aren’t any question marks regarding their position with a win here.
Prediction: Bournemouth 2-0 Swansea City
Jake predicts: Bournemouth 1-0 Swansea City
Result: Bournemouth 1-0 Swansea City
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