Bournemouth

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  1. Follow Saturday's Premier League games livepublished at 13:45 19 April

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    Five matches make up Saturday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

    • Brentford v Brighton

    • Crystal Palace v Bournemouth

    • Everton v Manchester City

    • West Ham v Southampton

    • Aston Villa v Newcastle (17:30 BST)

    All kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

    Follow all of the action and reaction here

  2. Sutton's predictions: Crystal Palace v Bournemouthpublished at 11:44 19 April

    Sutton's predictions graphic

    I was at St James' Park on Wednesday and Newcastle were brilliant in their 5-0 win over Crystal Palace, especially on the break.

    The Eagles should really have levelled after going 1-0 down, but Eberechi Eze made a mess of his penalty and the game was over by half-time.

    It has been a bad week for Palace, who also conceded five goals against Manchester City on Saturday, and how can I back them after they have shipped 10 goals in two games?

    I am not exactly convinced by Bournemouth either, though. They ended a poor run by beating Fulham on Monday but they have looked a little tired of late, and don't have as much firepower as Newcastle or Manchester City.

    My concern about Palace is how passive they looked against the Magpies. They need a response to that poor performance, and I think we might get one from them at Selhurst Park. Surely Eze can't play as badly again.

    Sutton's prediction: 1-1

    Read the full predictions and have your say here

  3. Iraola on team news, Kepa's leadership qualities and Palacepublished at 09:58 18 April

    Karan Vinod
    BBC Sport journalist

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Crystal Palace (kick-off 15:00 BST).

    Here are the key lines from his news conference:

    • Iraola confirmed forward Justin Kluivert will be available and other players "should also be fine". However, winger Luis Sinisterra will be out.

    • He praised Kepa Arizabalaga and said the goalkeeper made his side "feel safe", adding that it is not always about making great saves. Iraola pointed to Kepa's experience as it brings "confidence and assurance" to the squad.

    • The Spaniard said he has determined his starting centre-back pairing for the game - but was unwilling to disclose the information.

    • Iraola is also happy with the points tally accrued by his players so far this season and stated that it was "one of their goals".

    • On Palace: "They are coming in a great run of results. They want to control the games very well. They don't concede a lot and they are very well organised, so it is not easy to play against them. They have individual players who can make the difference."

    Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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  4. 'To play with them would have been amazing'published at 09:00 18 April

    Ilya Zabarni and Dean HuijsenImage source, Getty Images

    Former Bournemouth defender Steve Cook spoke to BBC Radio Solent about the current defenders at the club: "At such a young age, they are playing with such a maturity and I think the recruitment in that department has been amazing.

    "I have played with some good centre-halves in my time, but to play with them would have been amazing.

    "It's a great back four, and I thought Adam Smith was superb [against Fulham]. He has been out for a long time and come in and put up a performance - that sums up his professionalism and is a great representative of the club."

  5. Crystal Palace v Bournemouth: Did you know?published at 16:54 17 April

    Palace and Bournemouth playersImage source, Getty Images

    Bournemouth are winless in their past 10 Premier League games in London, since a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in December 2023.

    Each of their past four games in the capital have all ended 2-2 in draws against Fulham, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham this season.

  6. Spurs 'a difficult place to go in and do well' - Partington on Iraola linkspublished at 12:06 17 April

    Andoni IraolaImage source, Getty Images

    Former Bournemouth defender Joe Partington spoke to BBC Radio Solent's Cherries: Unpicked podcast about reports linking Cherries boss Andoni Iraola with Tottenham.

    Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has come under pressure in recent weeks - his side are 15th in the Premier League, seven spots below Bournemouth.

    "Iraola is doing a wonderful job at Bournemouth," Partington said.

    "He did a wonderful job at his previous club too, and I suppose the natural progression of a manager who does well at the clubs who aren't deemed as being 'bigger' clubs is being hunted by those bigger clubs."

    Speaking further, he said: "There are some clubs in the UK at the moment which are difficult to manage. Tottenham is one of them, Manchester United is another one. There are clubs underperforming.

    "If you are one of those clubs who believes they should be near the top of the Premier League and you're looking at the clubs that maybe shouldn't, Bournemouth is probably one of them. And then you look at the manager [Iraola] and the impact he's had, not just on the pitch but certainly off it as well, you want that - that is something you seek to try to achieve.

    "Maybe Tottenham are the club that Iraola believes is the opportunity he needs to showcase himself at the top of the game, but it's a very difficult place to go in and do well, as many other managers who have been very successful have found recently."

    Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

  7. 🎧 'The winless run is over'published at 07:46 17 April

    Tyler Adams celebrates after Bournemouth score against Fulham Image source, Getty Images

    The latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Cherries: Unpicked podcast has landed.

    The team look back over Bournemouth's win against Fulham, debate the Cherries' chances of qualifying for European football and discuss boss Andoni Iraola's future.

    Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

    Listen on BBC Sounds banner
  8. European hopes and 'impossible' predictionspublished at 16:45 16 April

    Mark Mitchener
    BBC Sport senior journalist

    Bournemouth expert view banner
    Andoni IraolaImage source, Getty Images

    Just when a run of six Premier League games without a win had threatened to derail Bournemouth's season, the Cherries moved firmly back on track with Monday's 1-0 win over Fulham which lifted them to eighth place on goal difference, and back in the mix for potential European qualification.

    The complicated mathematical conundrum of 'how many English teams can qualify for Europe' has been made a little clearer with confirmation of a fifth Champions League slot, while Aston Villa's elimination from the top-tier Uefa competition on Tuesday leaves Arsenal as the Premier League's sole remaining representative.

    The second-placed Gunners hold a nine-point advantage over sixth place with six games left, leaving the 'what if Arsenal win the Champions League but finish outside the top five' permutation receding into improbability.

    So, five teams for the Champions League, sixth place for the Europa League, and – making the assumption that Newcastle, with their game in hand, might also expect to finish in the top six – the Magpies' Conference League spot (for winning the EFL Cup) should go to seventh place.

    Or, potentially lower. The four FA Cup semi-finalists are Nottingham Forest (3rd), Manchester City (5th), Villa (7th) and Crystal Palace (12th). So, as things stand, any of the first three of those teams lifting the Cup would drop Conference League qualification to eighth place.

    While the six-point gap between seventh and eighth looks challenging with only six games left, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brighton are locked on 48 points between eighth and 10th – so it will not just be Brighton's long-established rivalry with Palace making sure that this trio of teams will hope anyone other than the Eagles lifts the FA Cup.

    That said, those last half-dozen games are far from straightforward for Andoni Iraola's Cherries, who face Palace, Manchester United, Arsenal, Villa, Manchester City and Leicester.

    However, the only one of those teams to defeat Bournemouth in the reverse fixtures earlier this season was… seemingly relegation-doomed Leicester, which just shows how trying to make any sort of prediction at this stage of the season is almost impossible!

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  9. Gossip: Cherries set to cash in on Huijsenpublished at 07:25 16 April

    Gossip graphic

    Bournemouth are resigned to losing Dean Huijsen this summer, but the defender would prefer a move to another Premier League club over a switch to Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. (Talksport), external

    Tottenham have identified Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, Fulham boss Marco Silva and Brentford head coach Thomas Frank as candidates to replace Ange Postecoglou should he be dismissed. (Teamtalk), external

    However, Iraola is likely to snub the chance to join Spurs in favour of remaining at Bournemouth, as the Cherries eye playing European football next season. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

    Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

    Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

  10. Kepa for keeps?published at 12:40 15 April

    Sam Davis
    Fan writer

    Bournemouth fan's voice banner
    Kepa ArrizabalagaImage source, Getty Images

    Bournemouth have a plethora of goalkeepers on their books and the future is bright, as there is excitement around young stoppers Callan McKenna and Alex Paulsen, the latter currently out on loan with Auckland.

    Moving up the chain, both experienced keeper Neto and the ever reliable Mark Travers are out on loan at Arsenal and Middlesbrough respectively, plus the club still have Will Dennis as first team cover.

    However, it is Chelsea loanee Kepa Arrizabalaga who has been the ever-present between the sticks this campaign, so should the Cherries do all they can to secure him permanently in the summer?

    Kepa still stands as the world's most expensive goalkeeper having moved to Chelsea for around 80m euros in 2018, so it was seen as a real coup from Bournemouth to grab the Spaniard on loan for this season. Andoni Iraola was clearly a key factor having both worked together previously at Athletic Bilbao, so providing Iraola stays put (please), then it feels as if this is a deal that can get done.

    Chelsea would reportedly take a low transfer fee to get Kepa off their wage bill and Bournemouth are expected to cash in on Travers and also to allow Neto to depart, so a first-choice keeper will more than likely be needed.

    Elsewhere, there are plenty of rumours circulating involving other keepers like Liverpool's Caomhin Kelleher and ex-Cherry Aaron Ramsdale, but maybe the ideal solution is already at the club in Kepa.

    The win against Fulham underlined his importance to us, and his experience and calm nature in nets has been evident. Although he has made a few costly errors, on the whole he's been an upgrade and looks set to be a part of Bournemouth's greatest ever Premier League campaign.

    Find more from Sam Davis at Back of the Net, external

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  11. 'More than a few defensive headaches going on for Iraola right now'published at 12:21 15 April

    Chris Wise
    5 Live commentator at Vitality Stadium

    Andoni IraolaImage source, Getty Images

    Bournemouth's backline has been at the forefront of Andoni Iraola's mind for a number of weeks now. On multiple occasions, he has highlighted not just the number of goals they've conceded, but perhaps more the manner in which they've been conceding them. That's why the clean sheet in the win over Fulham would have meant so much to him.

    Iraola made a big call in leaving out Ilia Zabarnyi on Monday night. It was the first time he'd ever chosen to drop the Ukrainian defender. Zabarnyi has set a very high bar for himself since his arrival at Bournemouth, and his performances in recent week haven't hit his usual mark.

    Marcos Senesi stepped in against Fulham, but he had a difficult first-half, so much so that Iraola had to swallow his initial decision to drop Zabarnyi as he then brought him on at half-time in Senesi's place.

    That was a perfect example of Iraola's decisiveness. He wasn't afraid to drop Zabarnyi initially, but then didn't leave Senesi on the pitch longer than he needed to just because of his principles. That's something Iraola should be praised for.

    And then across the backline, there's the very real prospect of both Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez departing Bournemouth this summer. Kerkez in particular was excellent again last night. He's quickly emerged as one of the Premier League's best full-backs, and is going to be mightily hard to replace if he does leave Vitality Stadium.

    There's more than a few defensive headaches going on for Iraola right now.

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  12. Bournemouth 1-0 Fulham - the fans' verdictpublished at 08:23 15 April

    Your views banner
    Bernd Leno touches the ball through the net and out of play Image source, Getty Images

    We asked for your thoughts after Monday's Premier League game between Bournemouth and Fulham.

    Here are some of your comments:

    Bournemouth fans

    Matt: Quick out of the blocks but then we came up against quality opposition. We rode our luck several times, having not extended our lead, and a dogged performance in the second half ground out the vital win. Kepa was a deserved man of the match recipient.

    Nick: Straight off attacking, as per usual. An unlucky miss off the woodwork, that has happened 21 times this season. Our second half performance was probably just us protecting our fine goal scored in the first minute of the game, The tactics were the best part. Well deserved.

    Wing Lam: We showcased how strong we are in terms of pulling Fulham in all directions in the first half and we could have easily been 2-0 up at half-time. After the break, we showed incredible resilience to keep a clean sheet, particularly when Fulham have a deeper squad to call on to attack us. The consequence was a superb 1-0 win. Long may this continue. We should secure a European spot if we keep this up!

    Tony: We looked very tired and gave the ball away too easily.

    Fulham fans

    Will: That might be that for our European football hopes. There are still a few games left, but the desire seems to be slipping away and fast.

    David: There were far too many misplaced passes and weak attempts on goal. A lack of consistency is hurting our European football ambitions. At least Bernd Leno was on-form to prevent any more goals from Bournemouth. However, our up and down performances might lead to us beating Chelsea on Sunday. A double over them would make many fan's season.

    Mark: Fulham have improved from last year, but I'd personally put that down to good transfer business rather than Silva himself.

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  13. 'Every point you get is expensive but we are in a good place' - Iraolapublished at 07:53 15 April

    Andoni IraolaImage source, Getty Images

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "It was a big win. We needed to win this game and I am very pleased with how we won. Especially defensively because that is what has kept us out of the points lately and a clean sheet against a team like Fulham is very important. We defended really well, still created our chances and scored our goal.

    "In the last few weeks we have conceded a couple of set plays and poor goals to concede that we hadn't been conceding all season. In the last few games the opponents were scoring two goals and when you concede two goals it is very difficult to win a Premier League game.

    On the half time change: "Now we have centre-backs available it is always a difficult decision. Marcos [Senesi], Dean [Huijsen] and Zaba [Zabarnyi] have all been performing so well this season so it was hard to leave Zaba out. I thought the game was good for Marcos, he is very good in the press and the build up and dealing with players between the lines. After the yellow card I did not want to take any risks."

    On matching last season's points tally: "It is one of the goals that we have. We have the first chance to beat it against Crystal Palace on Saturday. It is not going to be easy, every point you get is expensive but we are in a good place."

    • With his eighth goal of the Premier League season, Bournemouth goal-scorer Antoine Semenyo has now matched his best-ever return for a single league campaign, level with his tally for the Cherries last season and also 2021-22 with Bristol City in the Championship.

  14. Bournemouth 1-0 Fulham: Cherries back on trackpublished at 22:47 14 April

    Emily Salley
    BBC Sport journalist

    Head Coach Andoni Iraola of BournemouthImage source, Getty Images

    It had been a miserable two months for Bournemouth in the Premier League.

    After putting themselves firmly in the running for European football next term, it looked like those dreams were fading after a winless run of six league games.

    Gathering just two points from a possible 18, Andoni Iraola's side were slipping down the table.

    How quickly things can change. All Bournemouth needed was 53 seconds.

    Antoine Semenyo's early clinical finish was enough for the Cherries to avoid falling six points behind Fulham and ensure their European hopes lived on.

    Eighth place - where Bournemouth now find themselves - is likely to be enough for a Europa Conference League qualification spot, as long as League Cup champions Newcastle and the winners of the FA Cup finish in the top seven.

    However, there is still a long road ahead and Bournemouth face three of the top seven in their next six games, with a tricky run of fixtures against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

    An image detailing how to follow your Premier League team on BBC Sport: "On the app? Tap the bell icon to get news about your club sent to you. Signed in on a browser? Hit 'Follow' to stay up to date.
  15. Sutton's predictions: Bournemouth v Fulhampublished at 09:41 14 April

    Sutton's predictions graphic

    I watched Bournemouth against West Ham last week and they deserved to beat them, so I don't think their form is as bad as their run of two points from their past six games suggests.

    Fulham, meanwhile, took the scalp of mighty Liverpool to underline how capable they are - but they seem to lack the consistency they will need to really push for the Champions League places from here.

    Let's face it, though, I find both of these teams very hard to predict.

    Whichever way I go with this one, the opposite will happen - so I am going to hedge my bets and go for a draw.

    I was going to go for it to finish 2-2 because both teams have got a lot about them going forward, but my daughter, Sophia, says it will be 1-1. If I lose this week because of this game, then it is her fault.

    Sutton's prediction: 1-1

    Read the full predictions and have your say

  16. Semi-automated offsides a 'step in right direction' but take 'with a pinch of salt'published at 11:07 12 April

    Nedum Onuoha, BBC Sport columnist
    Referee Craig Pawson checks the VAR monitorImage source, Getty Images

    There are lots of different perspectives in terms of how you watch a game of football, and I think for the majority of time the people in the stadium get the best atmosphere, but the worst views of how a game has actually gone.

    You don't really get the chance to see multiple replays and have discussions about things, because you just get caught up in the moment.

    With the incoming semi automated offsides, they did promise it earlier in the season - but I think the caveat was they're only going to do it when it's ready.

    It is a positive that they didn't do it when it wasn't ready.

    One upside to to the new technology is some of the arguments disappear. Previously you could say 'but it looks like it's this to me' or 'it looks like it's that to me'. When it is presented now, there aren't many people that will then be looking at the animation, going back to the video, and then going down a proper conspiracy rabbit hole.

    So, it ends more arguments, not all arguments, but more arguments.

    I think people, as a consequence, will be more accepting of it.

    But, I still do believe that there's things for people to understand, because it can't be used in every situation. There are certain decisions which can still be a little bit more complex, and there's certain times where human intervention will still need to be brought in.

    I wouldn't say it's as clear as, say, goal line technology, but it's a step in the direction to where most people feel more comfortable accepting the outcome and the speed of it as well will be encouraged.

    It's not to say that it's going to be instant. If you believe this is going to be perfect, and always extremely fast, ask yourself, why do you think that?

    Unless somebody has told you that from PGMOL, then take it with a pinch of salt and you see how it goes.

    I think it's something that many people have seen before so hopefully there will be fewer arguments.

    But, because it's football, there'll always be something to argue about the end of the day.

  17. Iraola on Christie, Huijsen 'noise' and team fatiguepublished at 14:12 11 April

    Tyrese King
    BBC Sport journalist

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Monday's Premier League game against Fulham (kick-off 20:00 BST).

    Here are the key lines from his news conference:

    • On Ryan Christie having groin surgery: "Christie is out for the season. He has needed surgery and he has been pushing through pain all season but now is the moment where his body tells him no, it's enough you can't keep playing. Our aim with him is to have him ready to start pre-season."

    • With more team news: "We still have three days until Monday night, so we will try with Justin [Kluivert], Marcus Tavernier and Luis Sinisterra. Of the three of them, Sinisterra is the one with less of a chance but we will try. That's our situation right now."

    • On rivalry with Fulham: "We are three points behind them. They are a team who we have been fighting against more or less since the two seasons that I have been here. I think we just finished above them last season. They are in a good spot after beating Liverpool and I hope that now we can play well, because I feel like we need it."

    • He also said: "I think that they have a very nice squad, they don't have a star or a best player but I like a lot of the players and they perform consistently very well."

    • Iraola says "he has enough problems now" in a joking manner and has not started thinking about transfer business in the summer.

    • On Dean Huijsen's future: "My only concern with Dean is that he keeps his focus here. He trains very well, he's very focused on improving individually and improving the team collectively. We have some important games ahead of us and I see him in a really good place. I don't think the noise around him is affecting him, I see him in a good place."

    • On Alex Scott's best position: "With Alex with me, it's quite clear what his best position is which is the number eight. That's where he's more comfortable and he can develop as a great number eight. But he can also play as a six, a 10, a winger and also a right-back."

    • On not winning in the six games: "Obviously we have not been as brilliant playing but I think we have been competitive. I think the main difference has been the goals we have conceded. We have conceded two goals against Ipswich, Brentford and West Ham. These are games that previously we have managed better."

    • On player's feeling fatigue, Iraola said the only game he felt it was an issue was against Manchester City in the FA Cup but he concedes injuries have had an impact on their "offensive level" from the bench.

    Follow all of Bournemouth's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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