Bournemouth look to end their-seven match winless run as they meet Burnley in a festive Premier League battle.
Victory could see Bournemouth climb as high as ninth with a win if Brighton and Newcastle both lose elsewhere, whilst Burnley can climb to 18th with a win if West Ham lose at Manchester City.
Team News
Tyler Adams ruled out for Bournemouth after he suffered a MCL injury in their 4-4 draw at Manchester United.
Lewis Cook is back from suspension but Ben Doak (hamstring), Ryan Christie, Veljko Milosavljevic (both knee) and Matai Akinmboni (muscle) remain absent.
Burnley will welcome Lucas Pires and Kyle Walker back from suspension which kept the pair out of their 3-2 loss to Fulham.
Lyle Foster is away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with South Africa.
Hannibal Mejbri (suspension), Bashir Humphreys (unspecified), Zeki Amdouni (knee), Axel Tuanzebe (muscle), Conor Roberts (Achilles) and Jordan Beyer (hamstring) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Bournemouth face Burnley at Vitality Stadium on Saturday 20 December at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth have won two of their last six Premier League meetings against Burnley (W2, L4).
- Burnley have won three of their last five league visits to Bournemouth (W3, L2).
- Antoine Semenyo has scored in Bournemouth’s last two meetings against Burnley.
- Three of Semenyo’s seven league goals for Bournemouth this season were scored at home.
- Five of Burnley’s last seven away goals in the top flight were scored by Zian Flemming.
Prediction
With their winless run now at seven matches after an entertaining 4-4 draw at Man Utd, Bournemouth are clearly back on the goalscoring trail but they now just need to tighten up defensively because this is very winnable if play their best football.
Burnley though do equally have goals within them and a solid attacking style but they too are prone to defensive sloppiness which has been costing them repeatedly this season, although they did well to go toe-to-toe with Fulham last weekend despite the Cottagers’ fierce intensity and movement.
Now my instinct is that we’re in for a strong battle if both teams bring their best attacking game but I do think that this could well end in a draw given the defensive issues, although you would have to fancy Bournemouth to edge it if there’s a winner.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley
Result: Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley