With two wins and two defeats to their name in pre-season so far, Bournemouth conclude their preparations for the new term when Ligue 1 outfit Lorient visit the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Andoni Iraola's side were comfortably dispatched 3-1 by Italian giants Atalanta BC last time out, while Les Merlus navigated their way past Nantes by the same scoreline.
Match preview
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Making a fast start to life under the tutelage of Iraola - who was the beneficiary of Gary O'Neil's controversial sacking - Bournemouth put four unanswered goals past Hibernian in their pre-season opener before ending their Spanish training camp with a 1-0 defeat to Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Cherries returned to victorious ways in a 3-2 success over Southampton on the South Coast, but their win-loss sequence continued when Atalanta made the trip to King's Park on July 29, as La Dea pushed speculation over Rasmus Hojlund's future to one side to run out convincing winners.
Joakim Maehle and Teun Koopmeiners both breached the Bournemouth backline before Marcos Senesi gave the Cherries a glimmer of hope, but Emmanuel Latte Lath restored the visitors' two-goal advantage a few minutes before the end.
Iraola lamented second-half fatigue from his side after a respectable 60-minute period, but Bournemouth are running out of time to return to peak physical fitness, as the visit of Lorient will mark their final tune-up game ahead of another possible scrap for Premier League safety.
Bournemouth will open their top-flight season at home to West Ham United before two tough affairs with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur before the end of the month, but first comes a showdown with a side who are no strangers to doing business with the Cherries off the pitch.
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Since returning to the big time in the summer of 2020, Lorient just about kept their heads above water with back-to-back 16th-placed finishes in Ligue 1, before Regis Le Bris led Les Merlus on a brief European charge in the 2022-23 campaign.
Lorient entered the World Cup break sitting fifth in the standings - which would have been enough for Europa Conference League qualification - but Le Bris's side subsequently faded away in the second half of the campaign to wind up in 10th place.
Still, breaking into the top half of the rankings marked a significant period of progress from the Brittany outfit, who have also gone through four summer friendlies unbeaten, firstly playing out a pair of successive draws with Concarneau (3-3) and Guingamp (2-2).
Les Merlus finally managed to shut up shop in a 2-0 win over Le Havre before locking horns with Derby Breton rivals Nantes on Wednesday, coming away with a 3-1 victory courtesy of efforts from Bamba Dieng, Pablo Pagis and Darline Yongwa.
Going through a quintet of summer friendlies unbeaten would be just what the doctor ordered for Lorient, especially as the visitors' Ligue 1 opener on August 12 comes at the home of none other than perennial champions Paris Saint-Germain.
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Team News
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Bournemouth boss Iraola recently confirmed an early injury blow for his side ahead of the new term, as Marcus Tavernier is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season with a knee problem, which may not heal until after the next international break.
Lloyd Kelly is also struggling with a muscular problem, while Ryan Fredericks (calf) is yet to resume team training, but Joe Rothwell is back in action and was able to play 13 minutes off the bench in the recent loss to Atalanta - the same could not be said for Antoine Semenyo, though.
Last weekend's clash saw Inter Milan loanee Ionut Radu make his unofficial Cherries debut - replacing Neto at the break - while ex-Lorient man Dango Ouattara could come back into the first XI against his old employers.
Meanwhile, Lorient acquired the services of French attacker Romain Faivre from Bournemouth - who signed him from Lyon before loaning him straight back out to his homeland - but it remains to be seen if the 25-year-old will be given the green light to play against his parent club.
However, Les Merlus' headline signing is undoubtedly the former Monaco and Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy, who is resuming his career under Le Bris after recently being acquitted of all criminal charges against him.
Mendy is yet to feature for his new club in pre-season, though, while Terem Moffi and Enzo Le Fee have departed for Nice and Rennes in big-money deals, opening up more opportunities for Theo Le Bris - the nephew of head coach Regis Le Bris - in the final third.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Smith, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Kerkez; Rothwell, Cook; Ouattara, Christie, Kluivert; Solanke
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Kalulu, Laporte, Le Goff; Sylla, Abergel, Innocent, Yongwa; Faivre, Le Bris; Dieng
We say: Bournemouth 2-2 Lorient
Despite losing two of their most integral attacking players, Lorient have found their shooting boots in pre-season, but Bournemouth will represent a step-up in quality for Le Bris's charges.
The hosts should benefit from a longer recuperation period, though, and we expect the two sides to shake hands on a share of the spoils during an exciting South Coast contest.
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Ben Knapton
