AFCB PREVIEW
After the exertions of Portugal and that dramatic win against SC Torreense, it’s back to the grind that is the Premier League. The Lads make the long away trip on Sunday afternoon to face fellow Europa League combatants AFC Bournemouth. It’s a busy old schedule for us at the moment, but we knew this would happen when we qualified for UEFA’s second tier competition. Can the Lads produce a performance that hoists them up the table?
LAST MEETING
Remarkably, the Lads and AFCB have only met just twelve times in all competitions so far with us winning 50 per cent of those fixtures. Games between the sides are notoriously tight, with usually one goal in it. The most recent game at the Vitality Stadium saw the sides shake hands on a 1-1 draw; Eliezer Mayenda putting us into an 18th-minute lead only for Evanilson to equalise for the Cherries just after the hour. It was a feisty old game with the referee producing three yellow cards from the 90th minute onwards.
OUR OPPONENTS
AFCB have gone through a season of change in the summer as they embark on their fifth season in the Premier League and tenth overall after their first spell ended in relegation at the end of the 2019-20 campaign. Central defender Marcos Senesi and popular Head Coach Andoni Iraola have departed the South Coast in the summer, the latter now managing Liverpool. But they’re sticking to their same principles which have served them well, which is good.
Like the Lads, the Cherries have had an indifferent league start to the new campaign. They currently position themselves just below the Lads in 18th place, and a win for Marco Rose’s men (coupled with results elsewhere) could see them rise to 14th. Their finish of sixth place last season was the highest they have achieved in the Premier League, which is remarkable considering that 18 of their 38 league fixtures ended in a draw.
Whilst their squad isn’t littered with star names, they have an ethic which can cause you problems if you give them an opportunity. Top scorer this season so far is attacking midfielder Marcus Tavernier with three.
THE LADS
It’s safe to admit that we have found out the hard way this season with the increased fixtures putting more of a strain on what is still pretty much a thin squad in terms of depth. The good news from last night (Thursday) was that we seemed to come out of it without any major injuries, and that “Big Bad Bri” and Habib Diarra are well on the way after their respective injuries. Dan Ballard is still a little bit away whilst Thomas Meunier and Wilson Isidor could be rated 50-50 after missing the Torreense fixture.
The question is whether RLB plays the impressive Jules Ahoka for the first time in the Premier League after the 20 year-old’s second successive Man of the Match award. Ahoka might have only appeared twice since joining in the summer but he’s already looking like a real prospect. I’m expecting the big guns to return back to the starting eleven and a line up which might look like this:
Roefs
Hume – Mukiele – Danso – Reinildo
Xhaka – Sadiki
Diarra – Le Fée – N.Angulo
Brobbey
REF WATCH
Once more we have a Sheffielder in charge of proceedings. This time out we have Craig Pawson as the man in the middle. Craig has been on the Premier League list since 2013 and was the fourth official for both domestic Cup Finals two years later. His last assignment featuring the Lads was our 3-1 home loss to Fulham where Enzo scored our lone effort from the penalty spot.
