Bournemouth

Image source, Opta

With the October international break now firmly in the rearview mirror, Opta Analyst, external have turned their attention to the next four Premier League fixtures.

Here, they have given each team a ranking between 80 and 100 and then found the average to determine to difficulty of the schedule.

Liverpool's opening seven matches were ranked the easiest in the league, but their upcoming four are the fourth-toughest in the division. They will face Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton, with an average opponent strength of 91.4 before the next international break.

Fellow early pacesetters Arsenal also have challenging fixtures, playing Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea with an average rating of 90.7, while Manchester City's next four against Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Brighton are ranked the third-easiest by Opta.

Chelsea and Brighton have the second-hardest and third-hardest runs respectively, a real test given the promising starts for their new managers Enzo Maresca and Fabian Hurzeler.

At the other end of the table, Leicester - who recently secured their first win of the season against Bournemouth - have a chance to build with the easiest run in the division. They face Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Manchester United.

Fellow promoted side Ipswich will hope to pick up their first win of the season during a run of games that is ranked the fifth-easiest.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport researcher

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Arsenal (kick-off 17:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Iraola confirmed he has a full squad able to play: "Availability-wise, everyone has come back well. No injuries from the national team games. I think everyone is going to be available.

• On the recovery of Tyler Adams and Milos Kerkez: "Tyler probably lacks game time, but he's doing very well. He's trained very well and he's ready. Milos is feeling better and I hope they can both be available."

• He reflected on the Cherries' start to the season, sitting 13th with eight points from seven games: "If you look at the stats, we should probably have more points. The big mistake we've made is the game we lost against Leicester. The other results are more or less logical, but we have to recover the three points we lost there. We have three games in a row against Champions League teams so we have to recover those points in a difficult way."

• On the impact of losing key figures like Dominic Solanke and Neto in the summer: "All the team have to evolve when we lose a big part of what happened last season. It's natural that players have to assume more responsibility. We have very good characters in the changing room."

• He discussed the Cherries having had the third-most shots in the league but only scored eight goals: "We are arriving with numbers inside the box and feel like we can score. The truth is we aren't scoring enough for the amount of time we are spending close to the opposition box. This is the part that can make us more efficient and win more points. We trust the players we have in offensive areas and they have to continue doing things that make us play well."

• On Saturday's title-chasing opponents: "You have to try to respect them, but maybe not so much. I would say they were the team from last season where we created less than them in both games. We haven't been the team we want to be against them and it's a challenge for us. You have to win duels against strong defenders and impose yourself."

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

Do you know who Bournemouth's fastest player is?

He joined in the summer and tops the chart after seven Premier League games.

Find out who here

Mark Mitchener
BBC Sport senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

More than a year after arriving from Bristol City, Alex Scott remains an enigma.

'The Guernsey Grealish' gave another reminder of his undoubted talents on Tuesday evening, playing a key role for England Under-21s as they demolished Azerbaijan 7-0 at Ashton Gate. That was in front of the Bristolian fans who used to sing his name as he burst onto the Championship scene as a precocious teenager.

Those City supporters will feel they got more value for money than those from Bournemouth who packed out the Vitality Stadium for the U21s' previous game on Friday evening, when Ukraine were the opposition.

However, despite having featured heavily in pre-match promotional material, Scott remained an unused substitute to the disappointment of his 'home' fans.

Since making his big-money move in the summer of 2023, Scott has started 12 Premier League games, with a further 18 appearances off the bench. While he has featured in every league game this season, he is still yet to ink his name onto Andoni Iraola's teamsheet as a regular starter.

That is partially down to ill-fortune. Scott picked up an injury just before leaving City, meaning he missed his first pre-season with the Cherries and delayed his debut until October. Despite showing glimpses of his star quality early on, he was injured again in his third top-flight appearance and sidelined for another six weeks.

Since his return last December, Scott has featured in 27 of the Cherries' past 29 Premier League games, making the occasional start, but has struggled to dislodge Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie who have formed a strong central midfield axis in Iraola’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

There is also a sense that Bournemouth may not have discovered Scott's best position.

Having thrived playing further forward for England U21s, it will give Iraola food for thought as they try to unlock the defences of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City in their next three games.

BBC Sport pundit Fara Williams will be answering your questions, giving her insight and opinion around your club.

So what would you like to ask the former England midfielder?

What can your team achieve after their start to the season? Who has been your best player so far? What does the manager's future hold?

Send in your questions here, external

Arsenal are planning to make bids for two Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez and winger Antoine Semenyo. (CaughtOffside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Saturday's full gossip column

Newcastle United lead the race to sign 24-year-old Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo, amid competition from Premier League rivals. (Teamtalk), external

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

It's international break so everything is quieter around the Premier League, but Bournemouth have made a decent start so far this season.

A number of players have caught the eye, but you know your club the best.

So what's the one thing nobody is talking about regarding the Cherries - good or bad?

Tell us here, external

Former manager Mark Warburton talks to The Football News Show about how managers can deal with mental health struggles while working at a club and what support there is available to them.

Watch The Football News Show's Mental Health special

Mark Mitchener
BBC Sport senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

As Bournemouth reflect on the missed chances which cost them at least a point at Leicester on Saturday, an international break offers a natural opportunity to take stock.

Far gone are the days when the Cherries might only provide the occasional under-21 international for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, with the majority of the squad now having won at least one full cap for their country.

Indeed, Adam Smith and Marcus Tavernier are the only two regular starters this season who are not full internationals, though both won England age-group recognition at under-21 or under-20 level before joining the Cherries.

Bournemouth have come agonisingly close on a couple of occasions this term to having 11 full internationals on the pitch at the same time for the first time in the club's history, but even in these days of five permitted substitutions, there has always been at least one of Smith, Tavernier, England U21 midfielder Alex Scott, or Spain U21 defender Dean Huijsen on the field.

One player who may look on wistfully as his team-mates depart for international duty is Lewis Cook, who captained England to Under-20 World Cup success in 2017.

A year later, he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Italy, becoming the first player to win a full cap for the Three Lions while being a permanent Bournemouth player.

But since skippering another England team to success - the U21s at 2018's Toulon Tournament - the international trail has gone cold, despite Cook being in the best form of his career since Andoni Iraola took over as Bournemouth boss last summer.

Even when two central midfielders pulled out of interim boss Lee Carsley's current squad with injuries, the phone has not rung.

Supporters will feel aggrieved - as they did last season when Dominic Solanke was ignored despite a 20-goal campaign for the Cherries, only to earn an England recall after a modest start to the season with new club Tottenham.

However, one Bournemouth player who has been given an international recall is Justin Kluivert, back in the Netherlands squad more than six years after his only previous senior caps.

Bournemouth's Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo, 24, is attracting interest from Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham after the attacker's impressive start to the season. (Give Me Sport), external

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

Tom Jordan
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth's xG - encouraging or exasperating?

The Cherries head into another international break with the majority of fans in generally good spirits, albeit with a splash of concern. They are in a healthy 13th spot with a couple of crucial wins to their name, but the xG (expected goals) makes for more interesting reading.

Bournemouth are in fifth spot for expected goals, which indicates that Andoni Iraola’s exciting brand of football is still delivering an encouraging amount of chance creation.

However, it also suggests the conversion rate is leaving a lot to be desired.

Losing the club's main striker and talisman Dominic Solanke was always going to take some adjustment and getting used to, and this has been very evident at the start of the campaign.

In their past two away fixtures the Cherries have accumulated an impressive 36 shots (against Liverpool and Leicester respectively) but have failed to score in either game, an alarming statistic or something to be positive about? It shows that the football on show is offensive and front-foot in nature, but also that the ruthlessness from attacking individuals needs to improve.

If Bournemouth continue in this vein they will ultimately be left ruing constant missed opportunities, but if it clicks - and once their new record signing Evanilson beds in some more - the club could be ready to surprise a few this season.

I’m sure it will remain something that fluctuates throughout the campaign, but with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City up next after the break, being more ruthless in front of goal is paramount if the Cherries are to pick up any points.

Find more from Tom Jordan at Back of the Net, external

Image source, Getty Images

A VAR related question was put to chief football writer Phil McNulty on Monday's Q&A.

@nubiblue on 'X' asked: Is the new improved VAR working? To me it continues to favour certain clubs.

Phil answered: First of all, I don't believe VAR favours certain clubs and quite honestly, I've not noticed too much difference or huge improvement.

Maybe a little less interference but I confess I lost a lot of faith in VAR after initially being a strong advocate.

I would be happy with semi-automated offside and line technology.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Leicester and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Leicester fans

Nigel: Great win. Faes was outstanding. A positive result which hopefully the team can now build on and climb the table. Well done the whole team and Stevie Cooper.

Vin: Excellent first half and deserved lead for Leicester. Baffling second-half display and were fortunate Bournemouth didn't get back into it. Not enough closing down and tackles put in and playing out from the back encouraged Bournemouth to press. Must have a full 99-minute display, Mr Cooper.

Pravin: A win is a win for the Foxes. Rode our luck second half but three points and a clean sheet is a plus. It will be a game to build, hopefully. Cooper needs to get a first XI in his mind to start every game.

Trev: OK, a win - but nowhere near good enough. Like someone said last week, Cooper was a bad decision. The sooner he is replaced the better chance we have of staying up. Leave it much longer and it will be too late.

Bournemouth fans

Steve: Weak up front again - not taking chances when on top. It is frustrating because they do play with some style.

Jon: Evanilson isn't Solanke. We need the players to realise that and start playing to his feet rather than smash it up there and lose the ball because he hasn't got the physicality of Dom. When they realise that we will create more chances and might even score.

Chris: Appreciate that the forwards we have could be great once they have settled in, but we could have done with a recognised striker in there and now to replace Solanke. But, in Iranoi we trust. Still a long way to go.

Richard: Toothless without a goalscorer. Long season ahead, methinks.

Highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Man City 3-2 Fulham

• Everton 0-0 Newcastle

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "It's difficult to explain, you need to score. We had a disallowed goal, hit the post, the crossbar, we had enough chances to win the game.

"We played quite a level first half. In the second half we were pushing them a lot, put pressure on them. We played in their half. We had a lot of crosses but their keeper made some very good saves. We have to be more ruthless."

On Leicester's goal: "We should defend better but they have quality players. This can happen. We have to give merit to their offensive side but on the other side we are missing very clear chances."

"Ryan Christie drew an amazing save from the keeper. There are chances that you cannot miss altogether. We have to be more clinical and it is hurting us. All the games apart from Liverpool we are creating more chances but we are not getting the points."

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Boss Andoni Iraola was right to bemoan Bournemouth's lack of cutting edge.

It is just eight goals in seven Premier League games for the Cherries this season, three of them coming in the first half against Southampton on Monday.

They created enough to take at least a point from Leicester and should have made their second-half dominance count.

Lewis Cook's disallowed free kick, with Evanilson offside, Ryan Christie being denied by Mads Hermansen, and Dango Ouattara and Illia Zabarnyi hitting the woodwork - there were enough chances.

It was clear they are missing Dominic Solanke after his £65m summer move to Tottenham and replacement Evanilson is yet to get to grips with the Premier League.

That should happen in time but the Cherries need to find a degree of ruthlessness more consistently.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

What did you make of Leicester’s display?, external

Have your say on Bournemouth's performance, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Follow reaction and read the match report

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

It has been a hectic start to the Premier League season with some clubs making a fast start while others are yet to get going.

But whose boots are made for walking the most so far?

Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa has walked the most after six games, just 0.1 km more than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

Interestingly, Haaland and Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo walk a lot despite being forwards.

Maybe the reason why Haaland has been able to establish himself as one of the fastest players and why Semenyo has made so many sprints is that they conserve their energy for the biggest moments where they can make the most impact.

Meanwhile, it is not just distance walked that we have tracked.

Wolves’ Matheus Cunha has spent more of his time on the pitch walking than any other player in the Premier League so far.

It is also interesting that both of Tottenham’s centre-backs spend so much of their time walking, given Spurs' high possession, high pressing, style of play.

This might mean Cristiano Romero and Micky van de Ven can conserve energy for when things get a bit chaotic (or they fancy a marauding run)?

This could especially be true for van de Ven who has been the fastest player in the competition so far.

Seven matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Liverpool - 12:30

• Arsenal v Southampton

• Brentford v Wolves

• Leicester v Bournemouth

• Man City v Fulham (listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• West Ham v Ipswich

• Everton v Newcastle - 17:30 (listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live)

Kick-off 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week seven, he takes on Will Champion and Jonny Buckland from Coldplay, whose latest album, Moon Music, came out on Friday.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Bournemouth are a good team, and they are showing it. I watched them against Liverpool a couple of weeks ago and, although they ended up being beaten 3-0, they carried a threat and have got a goal or two in them.

Evanilson is off the mark now too, after scoring against Southampton, and Antoine Semenyo is important for the Cherries too. I'm convinced they will do enough here to pinch a win.

Leicester boss Steve Cooper is coming under a bit of pressure, but that is more because of his history at their rivals Nottingham Forest. Still, he needs a win... but I can't see him getting one this weekend.

Will and Jonny's prediction: 1-1

Read the rest of their predictions, and have your own say here