Two South Coast outfits collide at the Vitality Stadium in Saturday's Premier League battle, as Bournemouth scrap it out with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Cherries entered the international hiatus on the back of an agonising 3-2 loss to Brentford, while Fabian Hurzeler's men prolonged Manchester City's misery two weekends ago.
Match preview
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Visiting a ground renowned for goal-laden classics in the current Premier League season, Bournemouth helped to keep the Gtech Community Stadium trend going during their showdown with Brentford, where five goals flew into the West London nets.
Unfortunately for Andoni Iraola's troops, only two of them went for them, as the Cherries failed to cling onto slender leads given to them by Evanilson and Justin Kluivert before Yoane Wissa's second of the contest decided the destiny of the points.
Defeat at the hands of the Bees extended a dampening run of away form for Bournemouth, who have only amassed one point from their last 12 available on rival territory, a stark contrast to their three straight home wins over Southampton, Arsenal and Manchester City.
Never before have the Cherries - who reside in 12th place in the Premier League table - won four top-flight home contests on the spin, but the 2-0 beating of 10-man Arsenal in October represents the only time that Bournemouth have kept a clean sheet in any competition this season.
Key to Bournemouth's success on home soil has been their relentless efforts off the ball, as only Crystal Palace boast more pressures than the Cherries' 2,336 in the 2024-25 Premier League, but do not expect Brighton to shy away from such a gung-ho style of play either.
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Erling Haaland's 12th goal of the Premier League season did not faze Brighton at the Amex Stadium two weeks ago, as the Seagulls capitalised on the Citizens' recently-exposed flaws to condemn the champions to a fourth straight loss in all tournaments.
Joao Pedro's late leveller came just five minutes before summer signing Matt O'Riley sparked Brighton bedlam, as Hurzeler outwitted a man 22 years his senior in the great Pep Guardiola and snapped his side's three-game winless run in the process.
By virtue of their shock beating of the champions, sixth-placed Brighton are only being kept outside of the Champions League places on account of an inferior goal difference to Arsenal; the Seagulls possess the worst defensive record among the top eight teams.
Nevertheless, the Seagulls are yet to draw a blank in front of goal on the road this season, and their 10 points won in the Premier League since the start of October is the second-best record in the division, only behind leaders Liverpool and their tally of 13.
Brighton were embarrassed at the Vitality during the Roberto De Zerbi era, though, going down 3-0 to Bournemouth in late April, which snapped the Seagulls' three-match winning run against the Cherries and condemned them to their fourth loss from five Premier League games on Bournemouth's turf.
Team News
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Bournemouth's squad has certainly been in better shape than it is presently, as Alex Scott (knee), Julian Araujo (hamstring) and Luis Sinisterra (thigh) are definitely absent, while Dango Ouattara (adductor), Milos Kerkez (knee) and Antoine Semenyo (knee) all need once-overs, but the latter two are on course to be fit.
Iraola will also be forced into a midfield alteration due to Ryan Christie's suspension - the Scot was booked for the fifth time this season in the Brentford defeat - so either Philip Billing or Marcus Tavernier should make the first XI here.
Whichever man is selected to deputise for Christie will be feeding hotshot Evanilson, who has netted in each of his last three Premier League appearances and could now become the first Bournemouth player since Callum Wilson in 2019 to score in four in a row.
Meanwhile, Brighton's infirm list hit double figures during the international break, as Jack Hinshelwood (knee) and Yasin Ayari (ankle) were both victims of the win over Man City, while Tariq Lamptey (calf), Carlos Baleba (knee) and Ferdi Kadioglu (toe) could not join up with their countries either.
Hurzeler confirmed on Thursday morning that Baleba and Hinshelwood have good chances to play, while Lewis Dunk (calf) is "close", but there is still no timeframe on James Milner's return from a thigh problem.
Yankuba Minteh (groin) was also fine to represent The Gambia this month, but there were no updates on Solly March (knee) and Adam Webster (thigh), the former of whom is still being eased back in slowly.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Adams, Cook; Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan; Adingra, O'Riley, Baleba, Mitoma; Pedro, Welbeck
We say: Bournemouth 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
The international break has the potential to harm both sides' offensive exploits, but their respective play styles should lead to plenty of goalmouth action at the Vitality, where Bournemouth have often had the Seagulls' number.
Neither side inspires much confidence defensively either, so we can envisage the goals being shared about equally in an entertaining stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
