After a dominating display against Manchester United last time out, Tottenham Hotspur are ready to hit the road to square up against Bournemouth.
Bournemouth are all set to host Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 3 of the new Premier League season. The Cherries will be looking for their first win of the 2023/24 season, whereas Spurs will put up a similar display like the one they did against Manchester United.
After finishing 15th last season, Bournemouth came into the new season hoping for better things. They were looking to ensure they do not end up in the relegation battle. In the season opener against West Ham United, Dominic Solanke’s late equaliser helped them claim a point and get things started.
Last time out, they squared up against Liverpool and got off to a flying start with a goal in the 3rd minute. But, post that, things did not go according to plan as they conceded three goals and ended up losing 3-1 on the day. When they host Spurs, they will look to put up a better fight than they did against the Merseyside club.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur started the new season without their star striker Harry Kane, who has left the club. Everyone knew that the post-Kane era would be tough for the club and that proved to be the fact as they ended up playing a 2-2 draw against Brentford.
In Gameeweek 2, Spurs played host to Manchester United. It was expected to be a closely-fought encounter. But things panned out differently as Tottenham put up a dominating display and ended up winning 2-0 on the day.
They will be heading into this Bournemouth fixture high on confidence thanks to the win over the Red Devils. While there is a difference in quality between the two teams, we expect it to be hard fought encounter. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could use.
Team News & Tactics
Bournemouth
The home team have added Tyler Adams to their ranks since the defeat to Liverpool. But, the American international is not fully fit to make his debut against Spurs.
Just things we love to see 😍 pic.twitter.com/Nj65FxE7Tc
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 24, 2023
Apart from Adams, Bournemouth already have a long list of injuries. Alex Scott, Marcus Tavernier, Dango Ouattara, Ryan Fredericks and Emiliano Marcondes are all unavailable for this home fixture. Meanwhile, Lewis Cook and Adam Smith’s fitness heading into this fixture is a doubt.
Andoni Iraola is expected to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation, where Neto will be in goal. Max Aarons and Milos Kerkez will start out wide in defence as the full-backs. In the heart of the defence, Marcos Senesi will pair up with Illia Zabarnyi.
In the centre of the park, Philip Billing will start alongside Joe Rothwell. They will form a double pivot in the midfield and look to help out their defence against a star-studded Spurs attack.
Antoine Semenyo and Jaidon Anthony will start out wide on the flanks. They will look to provide the width to their attack. Meanwhile, Hamed Traore could be the attacking midfielder for this fixture. He will look to create chances for their number nine Dominic Solanke.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Neto; Aarons, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Rothwell, Billing; Semenyo, Traore, Anthony; Solanke
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou will be without the services of Alfie Whiteman, Ryan Sessegnon, Rodrigo Bentancur and Bryan Gil who are all out injured. Meanwhile, there are doubts over the availability of James Maddison, who picked up an injury in their last outing against Manchester United. While the player is confident of making it back in time, it will be interesting to see if he starts in this fixture or not.
The Australian manager is expected to go ahead with the 4-2-3-1 formation, where their new number one Guglielmo Vicario will be in goal. Pedro Porro will start alongside Destiny Udogie as the full-backs.
Finishing touches ahead of #BOUTOT 🔜 pic.twitter.com/pkeS9xyEku
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 25, 2023
As far as the heart of the defence is concerned, Cristian Romero will pair up with the new signing Micky van de Ven. Yves Bissouma has been on fire of late and is expected to continue at the centre of the park in a double-pivot role alongside Pape Matar Sarr, who found the back of the net against United.
If Maddison proves his fitness in time, he will feature as the attacking midfielder. Skipper Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski will start out wide as the winges. They will look to provide the width and at times cut inside to trouble the Cherries defence. Richarlison will once again be the number nine for the Spurs.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Richarlison
Key Stats
- Tottenham Hotspur have the upper hand against Bournemouth having won eight out of the 13 matches.
- The previous match between the two teams ended in the favour of Bournemouth (3-2). They have an opportunity to make it back-to-back wins against Spurs having never done it before in the league.
- Spurs have only lost one out of their last six matches against the Cherries in the Premier League.
- Three out of the last five matches between the two teams have ended with a 90th-minute winner. Both league games last season ended in such a fashion.
- Tottenham have won one out of their last nine away matches in the league.
Player to Watch
Son Heung-min
Son has been a great servant for Tottenham. He joined them back in 2015 and has since gone from strength to strength. At this point in time, he is amongst the best forwards in the league and his performances will have a lot of impact on how Spurs perform in the 2023/24 season.
While the South Korean international was not at his best last season, he is expected to lead by example this time out after being handed the captain’s armband post the departure of Harry Kane. He is yet to find the back of the net or register an assist but given his quality expect that to change when he takes the field against Bournemouth.
Prediction
Bournemouth 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Bournemouth have not got off to a good start in the new Premier League season, but they did show signs of progress in their defeat against Liverpool. The Cherries gave a tough fight to the Merseyside club but couldn’t get the desired results.
Meanwhile, Spurs put up an exceptional performance against Manchester United, and they are expected to carry on in a similar fashion. While Bournemouth will try to create an upset, they might not be able to get one better over Tottenham this time out. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for the away team.
