Tottenham Hotspur’s quest for regaining a Champions League spot continues as the Lilywhites await a visit from the 15th-placed AFC Bournemouth.
A stint of lackluster fixtures was broken last weekend when a Son-Kane partnership saw Spurs scrape past De Zerbi’s men. A game that also featured a strange bust-up between two Italian managers, provided the Tottenham enthusiasts with a sigh of relief seeing Hueng-Min Son return to form. The South Korean was at his sparkling best as he registered his name in the iconic “100 club”, becoming the first Asian to do so.
The hard-fought victory now sees Tottenham in fifth position in the league table, mere 3 points behind Man United and Newcastle (although both of the latter mentioned teams have a game in hand each). With eight games in hand, Stellini and his men will push as hard as they could to finish strongly inside the top four.
As the hunt for a new gaffer continues for the Tottenham board, Cristian Stellini would hope to gain some confidence boost heading into the home fixture. With a string of challenging fixtures on the horizon, including matchups against Liverpool, Newcastle, and Man United, momentum could be the key for Spurs to break into the top 4.
Their opponents this weekend are relegation-battling AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries have had a strange season to put it perfectly. From lows like a 9-0 loss to Liverpool to highs like a win over the same side, Bournemouth have, for the large part, been doomed for relegation.
However, the Gary O’Neil-led side is going through a purple patch of its own. With three wins in the last five games, Bournemouth can be found at the 15th spot in the Premier League table at the moment, Three points above the drop zone, the Cherries are fighting for their lives and with eight games to go, might just end up surviving.
Last 5 Games
An arduous home game saw Spurs barely get the better of Brighton. Harry Kane‘s winner saw the North London side edge past Brighton with a scoreline of 2-1. Having secured 8 points out of a possible 15, form is not on the good side of the Lilywhites going into the fixture. With two wins, two draws and a loss in the last five outings against lower to mid-table opponents, this might just be the ideal time to get back to winning ways for Cristian Stellini’s men.
Bournemouth have surprisingly had a decent run of five fixtures. 3 wins and two draws in the last five matches has seen the Cherries force their way out of the relegation zone. A 1-0 victory against Leicester, courtesy of a Philip Billing winner, now sees them a point behind the 13th-placed Wolves.
AFC Bournemouth: 15th
Win: 1-0 vs Leicester City Loss: 0-2 vs Brighton Win: 2-1 vs Fulham Loss: 0-3 vs Aston Villa Win: 1-0 vs Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur: 5th
Win: 2-1 vs Brighton Draw: 1-1 vs Everton Draw: 3-3 vs Southampton Win: 3-1 vs Nottingham Forest Loss: 0-1 vs Wolverhampton
Team News
Lucas Moura will continue to serve his suspension after receiving a red card against Everton. Though quite an injury-ridden squad, Stellini and Co will be pleased to see the return of Richarlison to the squad. The Brazilian could receive minutes off the bench. Ben Davies has been making good progress recovering from injury, though it is unlikely for the Welsh to make his comeback on Saturday. Bentancur, Sessegnon, and Bissouma continue their absences due to injury.
All three of Hamed Traore, Junior Stanislas, and Marcos Senesi are rumored to make their return just in time before the trip to London. Right-back Ryan Fredericks is set to miss out on the encounter against his boyhood club Tottenham due to a calf injury. Zimbabwe international Jordan Zemura completed his Bosman move to Serie A side Udinese days ago and thus has been sent to train with the reserves.
Possible Line-Ups
Tottenham Hotspur:
Lloris (GK), Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Pedro Porro, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic, Kulusevski, Son, Kane
Out of a total of 13 matches played between the two sides, Spurs have come out victorious in 10. 2 matches have ended in a draw whereas a single game has gone in the favor of the Cherries.
Tottenham managed to come out on top in their last visit to the Vitality Stadium. The nail-biter saw Tottenham, then under Antonio Conte, come from behind to overcome a 2-0 deficit to 2-2 before Rodrigo Bentancur scored an injury-time winner, breaking Bournemouth’s hearts in the process.
Bournemouth’s last victory over Spurs came almost four years ago when the Cherries got the better of Tottenham in one of the most chaotic games of the 18-19 season. A first-half red card to Son Heung-Min was followed by a second red card for the Lilywhites when Juan Foyth received his marching orders early on in the second half. A nine-manned Spurs were then beaten by the hosts, credit to an injury-time winner by the current Man City defender Nathan Ake.
Where Will The Game Be Decided?
Tottenham’s Harry Kane has scored in 20 different Premier League games in the 2022-23 season, more than any other player. The mantle of carrying Spurs over the finish line might once again rely on the back of the 29-year-old.
With 57 goals conceded in 30 games, AFC Bournemouth have the worst defense in the Premier League this season. Given Harry Kane’s form and the sheer quality of forwards in the Spurs side, the outing might be an easy affair for the Lilywhites if they attack efficiently.
Predictions
After getting four straight predictions wrong, I’m shamelessly back at prophesying the outcome of another upcoming fixture.
Tottenham’s record on the home turf has been one of the best this season. Over the span of 30 games, only Arsenal and Man City have managed to get the better of the hosts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham have also won five of their last seven meetings with Bournemouth, with the Cherries’ last win coming nearly four years ago.
That said, we predict an easy outing for Cristian Stellini’s men as they prepare to host Bournemouth.
Our prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Bournemouth
Odds
Tottenham to win: 1/2 Draw: 7/2 Bournemouth to win: 13/2
The odds heavily back a Spurs victory with an implied probability of 66.7%. Given that three of Tottenham’s last four outings and four of the last six encounters between these two sides have featured over 2.5 goals, odds from Stake back the probability of the same happening in this fixture (8/13).
By UniBet. At the time of writing.
Kickoff Time
The game kicks off at 14:00 GMT at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Andy Madley will be the referee for the afternoon, whereas Tony Harrington will serve as the VAR.
