Bournemouth welcome Brentford to the Vitality Stadium in a mid-table Premier League encounter.
Victory could lift Bournemouth into the top-ten whereas Brentford can go fifth with a win if Fulham, Chelsea and Liverpool all lose elsewhere.
Team News
Ryan Fredericks could return for Bournemouth after he missed their draw at Newcastle a fortnight ago with an unspecified injury.
Ben Pearson (knee) and Joe Rothwell (quad) are doubts but Lloyd Kelly (knee) and David Brooks (fitness) remain ruled out.
Brentford will be without Keane Lewis-Potter after he withdrew from England Under-21s squad with a ligament injury.
Christian Norgaard (Achilles) remains ruled out whilst Ethan Pinnock (knee) won’t be risked until either he is match-fit or there is an centre-back injury crisis, requiring a fast-track of his return to the matchday squad.
Stat Attack
- This is Bournemouth’s first clash against Brentford in the Premier League, although they have lost four of their last five meetings (W1, L4).
- Brentford have won just one of their last six visits to Bournemouth (W1, D1, L4).
- Each of Bournemouth’s last three home meetings against Brentford finished 1-0, with the Cherries winning twice to Brentford’s one win.
- Philip Billing has scored in each of Bournemouth’s last two matches.
- Brentford are yet to score the opening goal in three away league matches this season (D2, L1).
Prediction
Despite still being without a permanent manager, Bournemouth have definitely found form in recent games but were wasteful with their attacks last time out at Newcastle, yet defended well to frustrate the Magpies but a sloppy handball denied them a clinical smash-and-grab win.
Brentford meanwhile were simply outclassed by Arsenal who prevented them from getting a moment to settle and play their usual style too much, amidst solid defensive pressing although poor marking of crosses proved to be their downfall so improvement is needed here.
I am however unsure what to expect because Bournemouth certainly know that they need to win games like these in order to stay up, whereas Brentford will be eager to deliver a reaction to their defeat from a fortnight ago so this could be a competitive encounter.
As for the outcome of this match, I am going to go for an away win because Brentford’s pressing style does feel like it is strong enough to overwhelm Bournemouth, whilst Ivan Toney will have a point to prove for the visitors after he didn’t get any minutes whilst on duty for England.
Prediction: Bournemouth 0-1 Brentford
Result: Bournemouth 0-0 Brentford
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