Match Preview: Tottenham visit Bournemouth on matchday 14 of the Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face Bournemouth in the Premier League on matchday 14 of the Premier League. After overcoming Manchester City by a 4-0 margin nearly a fortnight back, Ange Postecoglou’s side has faltered in successive games in all competitions having won only once in their previous five outings.
Bournemouth are 13th in the Premier League, just two points behind Tottenham and will be high on morale having convincingly beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend. Moreover, they even overcame Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium a few weeks ago so there is enough reason for Spurs to not be overconfident about their chances of claiming all three points.
Team News
Bournemouth
Bournemouth have no suspensions coming into the match but will miss two key players in Alex Scott and Julian Araujo through injury. There are also doubts regarding Luis Sinisterra’s owing to a recently suffered muscle injury. Barring the trio, the Cherries are expected to have a fully fit squad although Andoni Iraola will not be expected to make too many rotations.
Milos Kerkez has been one of the team’s better players at the back and will be included in the starting eleven while discounting any unforeseen scenarios, a place in the team would also be reserved for Justin Kluivert after his hat-trick against Wolves. Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson are also in reasonable form, so they too are going to be guaranteed starters.
PREDICTED BOURNEMOUTH XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Adams, Christie; Brooks, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur’s camp has one suspension in Rodrigo Bentancur. Their injuries issues also have not improved exponentially since their draw versus Fulham as Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Mikey Moore, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are expected to miss out. Archie Gray could return after suffering a dead leg, however, whereas Dominic Solanke might also be passed fit to face his former side.
Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin will be nailed on starters in the heart of defence with Romero and Van de Ven injured. In midfield and offence, there are not likely to be any rotations either although the players in the final third will need to step their game up. Spurs have been lacklustre going forward and cannot afford any more lapses, especially against a side that trails them by just two points.
PREDICTED TOTTENHAM XI (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
Match-deciding duel
Milos Kerkez vs Brennan Johnson
Tottenham Hotspur have left a lot to be desired in their offensive department and it is seeming like Brennan Johnson’s form is their only glimmer of hope. He also scored the team’s only goal in the draw versus Fulham and will undoubtedly be key to the team potentially winning against Bournemouth on Sunday.
Bournemouth will have a plan in store to deal with the Welsh international and are likely to utilise perhaps their best defender in their attempts to thwart him. Milos Kerkez has been in very good form and can audition for the big clubs on Thursday by keeping Johnson at bay, so the duel between both players promises to be one with the possibility to change the game.
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Prediction
Bournemouth 1-1 Tottenham
Bournemouth have played some impressive football this season, not least at home. Tottenham, meanwhile, are struggling with injuries and the lion’s share of their results lately have shown that something in the team is not clicking like Ange Postecoglou would like for it to. Unfortunately, they may drop a couple of more points against the Cherries on matchday 14.
