Preview: Bournemouth vs. Southampton – Predictions, Team News, And Lineups
Two South Coast teams face off in Monday’s Premier League matchup as Bournemouth hosts a winless Southampton at the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries struggled against Arne Slot’s formidable Liverpool side last weekend, while Russell Martin’s squad was heartbreakingly denied their first victory of the top-flight season by Ipswich Town.
Returning to the starting lineup after being ineligible for the loss against his parent club Chelsea, on-loan Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga initially impressed with a series of crucial saves to keep Liverpool at bay. However, he made a costly error by rushing off his line to intercept a long ball, allowing the speedy Luis Diaz to score the first of his two goals on the day. A stunning curled shot from Darwin Nunez sealed a 3-0 victory for Liverpool over Andoni Iraola’s side.
It was a match to forget for the Bournemouth manager, who witnessed Antoine Semenyo’s early goal disallowed for a marginal offside before receiving his third yellow card of the season following Diaz’s goal, which means he will serve a touchline ban on Monday evening.
With only one win from their first five league matches of the 2024-25 season—an impressive comeback against Everton—the hosts currently sit in an unfortunate 13th place and risk losing back-to-back Premier League home games for just the second time during Iraola’s tenure.
Nevertheless, the Cherries have a solid track record against newly-promoted teams, having lost just one of their last 19 home games against such clubs in the Premier League, with 11 wins and seven draws. The only defeat came back in 2019 against Fulham.
While Southampton did not suffer the same fate as Bournemouth last weekend, their 1-1 draw with Ipswich felt like a devastating loss for Russell Martin and his team, as they were just seconds away from securing their first top-flight victory of the season.
Rising star Tyler Dibling opened the scoring against the Tractor Boys within five minutes, but after five minutes of second-half injury time, Ipswich’s Sam Morsy struck a stunning equalizer, leaving the St. Mary’s crowd heartbroken.
The pressure is mounting on Martin after his side’s fifth consecutive game without a win, with speculation about his job increasing despite Southampton’s advancement to the EFL Cup fourth round following a penalty shootout victory over Everton on September 17.
Currently sitting in 18th place below the relegation line, Southampton’s paltry total of just two goals makes them the least effective attacking team in the league. They have also set an unwanted club record of 18 Premier League games without a win.
However, the Vitality Stadium has been a favorable venue for Southampton in recent years, as they remain unbeaten in their last six visits to Bournemouth, winning their last three encounters without conceding a single goal.
Bournemouth Premier League Form:
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Bournemouth Form (All Competitions):
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Southampton Premier League Form:
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Southampton Form (All Competitions):
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Team News
Bournemouth will be without one coach and one player for the upcoming match against Southampton. Head coach Andoni Iraola, serving a suspension, confirmed in his pre-game press conference that Tyler Adams (back) is the only player unavailable due to injury.
Iraola noted the challenge of fully assessing his squad’s fitness with only three days until the game, but he expects to have a clean bill of health aside from Adams. He may consider adjusting his defensive lineup once again.
Adam Smith and Marcos Senesi, who started in the narrow loss to Chelsea before being dropped for the match at Anfield, are in contention to return. However, Senesi has received a yellow card in each of Bournemouth’s last five Premier League home games.
On the Southampton side, Jack Stephens will serve the third and final game of his suspension this weekend. Manager Russell Martin confirmed that the injury situation remains unchanged following the defeat to Ipswich. Gavin Bazunu (Achilles), Kamaldeen Sulemana (ankle), and Will Smallbone (hamstring) will continue to be sidelined, although Smallbone has a slim chance of returning for next weekend’s match against Arsenal.
Ben Brereton Diaz is still searching for his first Premier League win and risks going without a victory in his first 20 matches if Southampton fails to secure a win here. His current streak of 19 games without a win is already a record in the competition.
**Bournemouth Possible Starting Lineup:**
Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier; Unal
**Southampton Possible Starting Lineup:**
Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor; Lallana, Downes; Dibling, Fernandes, Fraser; Archer
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**Prediction:** Bournemouth 2-1 Southampton
While the away team has won the last five encounters between Bournemouth and Southampton across all competitions, the Saints are still lacking that crucial attacking spark and have conceded in each of their last 17 Premier League matches.
Even without Iraola directing from the sidelines, an offensively-focused Bournemouth side should take advantage of Southampton’s struggles to claim victory and potentially deal another blow to Martin’s position as manager.
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