AFC Bournemouth Match Preview

Since their 1-0 home win over Liverpool on March 12, newly-promoted AFC Bournemouth have been on something of a resurgence and on Sunday afternoon, West Ham United are the team that have to try and halt their winning run, as they arrive at The Vitality Stadium.

The Hammers achieved their first double of the season on 8 April with an away win at newly-promoted Fulham and are going in search of another against the Cherries after beating them 2-0 in Stratford back on October 24.

The home side remain under the stewardship of Gary O’Neill after he was handed the permanent role as Head-Coach back in November.

If West Ham were to get the three points here, then they would not only leapfrog their opponents but be one step closer towards their ultimate goal of retaining their Premier League status.

The visitors have enjoyed success over all of the newly-promoted teams this season, having won four of their five meetings to date, with their only defeat coming away at play-off winners Nottingham Forest.

After booking a UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final place with a 4-1 victory over KAA Gent three days ago, they will want to keep their current momentum going, especially with another big game ahead of them on Wednesday, as Liverpool make the trip to Stratford.

The hosts have had a full week to prepare for this game, though the Irons will be confident of getting another result here ahead of one more quick turnaround in their busy fixture programme. On the other hand, O’Neill’s side have one extra day before their next encounter at Southampton on Thursday.

David Moyes is likely to stick with the majority of the team that started against the Belgians, though Łukasz Fabiański, Aaron Cresswell, Thilo Kehrer and Danny Ings could return to the starting line-up. If the Scotsman decides to change formation however, Michail Antonio could partner Ings upfront just as he did at Craven Cottage.

The match is a 2pm kick-off and the referee is Anthony Taylor.