‘New’ kick-off time for Bournemouth vs. Fulham – prediction, team news, lineups
At risk of their worst-ever home losing run as a Premier League club, an out-of-sorts Bournemouth welcome Fulham to the Vitality Stadium for Monday night’s encounter.
The Cherries’ winless sequence continued in an engrossing 2-2 draw against West Ham United in gameweek 31, allowing the Cottagers to leapfrog them in the table with a shock 3-2 beating of Liverpool.
Match preview
From genuine Champions League contenders to top-seven pretenders, Bournemouth’s regression over the past several weeks has been a painful watch, and talk of top-level European football at the Vitality Stadium has quickly died down.
Andoni Iraola’s men have now failed to win any of their last six games in England’s top division after a topsy-turvy affair with West Ham last weekend, where South American hotshot Evanilson both started and ended the scoring either side of Jarrod Bowen and Niclas Fullkrug’s strikes.
Also mourning their dreams of FA Cup glory after their quarter-final elimination at the hands of Manchester City, a 2024-25 season that promised so much for Bournemouth could now end with the Cherries languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table and dissecting their worst-ever home sequence in the top flight.
Indeed, Bournemouth have been beaten in each of their last four league matches at the Vitality Stadium and could now lose five on the spin for just the third time in their history after such streaks in 1996 and 2005, both of which came in the third tier of English football.
Bournemouth’s fleeting continental hopes were handed a boost in midweek when it was confirmed that the Premier League would receive an additional Champions League place via their UEFA coefficient, but the hosts’ defensive deficiencies are costing them dear, having shipped two goals in each of their last five matches in all tournaments.
As Iraola’s side struggle to showcase their European credentials, Fulham enhanced theirs by subjecting Liverpool to their first Premier League away loss of the season last weekend, recovering from an Alexis Mac Allister rocket to strike through Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz at Craven Cottage.
A late Luis Diaz response proved futile as Marco Silva’s men defied the odds to take down the champions-elect, the perfect tonic to back-to-back London derby losses to Crystal Palace (in the FA Cup) and Arsenal (in the Premier League) as they took themselves to within touching distance of the top seven.
As the Cottagers still have to take on Aston Villa on May 3, their European destiny lies in their own hands, but consistent inconsistency has prevented them from breaching the top-seven places so far; they have alternated between winning and losing their last seven Premier League games.
Precedent is therefore not on the visitors’ side on Monday following their extraordinary success over Liverpool, but their goalscoring form on the road is, having netted in each of their last 14 Premier League matches away from home since their 1-0 loss to Manchester United on the opening day.
However, Fulham’s attacking powers failed them in a 3-0 loss to Bournemouth at the Vitality last season, and they were pegged back twice when the Cherries visited Craven Cottage in December, as Dango Ouattara’s 89th-minute leveller rescued a 2-2 draw for Iraola’s outfit.
Bournemouth Premier League form:
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Bournemouth form (all competitions):
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Fulham Premier League form:
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Fulham form (all competitions):
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Team News
Having played through the pain of a chronic groin injury for a number of weeks, Bournemouth fulcrum Ryan Christie could not delay his inevitable surgery any longer and is now out for the rest of the season as he recovers from his recent operation.
Christie is one of two long-term absentees for the Cherries alongside Enes Unal (knee), while Justin Kluivert (unspecified), Marcus Tavernier (ankle) and Luis Sinisterra (hamstring) are all touch-and-go, but the latter is the least likely to return.
Now on nine goals for the season following his brace at the London Stadium, Evanilson could become just the fourth Brazilian to score 10 times in his debut Premier League campaign, following in the footsteps of Robinho, Roberto Firmino and Matheus Pereira.
Sticking with the Brazilian scoring theme, Fulham frontman Muniz is aiming to find the back of the net for the fourth Premier League game in a row, a feat that only one player from his country has previously managed – Richarlison.
Muniz’s well-taken goal vs. Liverpool should be enough to keep Raul Jimenez at bay again, and Silva will surely see no need to make any alterations to the starting XI that took down the Reds with a scintillating first-half display.
In terms of injuries, Harry Wilson is in with a small chance of making the squad for the first time since his foot surgery in February, but on-loan Arsenal man Reiss Nelson is out for the season with a thigh problem.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Adams, Cook; Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara; Evanilson
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Sessegnon, Pereira, Iwobi; Muniz
We say: Bournemouth 2-2 Fulham
Much will depend on whether the influential Kluivert will be fit to return on Monday, but Iraola’s forward-thinking Bournemouth can usually trouble any opposition defence regardless of who is on the pitch.
However, the Cherries’ recent rearguard failings coupled with Fulham’s penchant for goals on the road makes it difficult to picture the hosts ending their painful winless run, but they should at least avoid a fifth successive home defeat in the Premier League as they play out another entertaining draw with their fellow European outsiders.
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