By Ben Bonsey
The Game
Bournemouth take on Tottenham this Sunday at the Vitality stadium for week ten of Premier League fixtures. The Cherries, who sit 17th in the league table, have not lost in three home games with a win and two draws. However, the Cherries last outing saw them lost to Manchester City 5-1, a result that could be tricky to bounce back from.
Tottenham, who sit 7th, are unbeaten in eight league matches since losing to Manchester United on the opening day. Kane is yet to find his Premier League shooting boots from last season, having only scored three in his last 17 league appearances.
The History
This marks the first ever league fixture between Bournemouth and Tottenham having their only previous competitive meeting being a fifth round FA Cup tie in 1957 when Bournemouth won 3-1 at home.
The clubs have faced off in friendlies before, most recently in 2010, where Tottenham went on to a convincing 4-0 victory at Bournemouth. Back then, it was the golden boy Robbie Keane who held the hope of the Tottenham fans, but now it is the turn of Harry Kane, who Eddie Howe admitted his signing interest whilst he had his brief spell with Burnley.
Team News
Bournemouth duo Andrew Surman and Marc Pugh are both fit again after recovering from calf and rib problems respectively. Lee Tomlin is also expected to be available after overcoming an illness.
Harry Arter returns to fitness after his groin injury which left him out for the first 9 games of the season. Artur Boruc still remains out with a thigh injury.
Ryan Mason is back to fitness after recovering from a knee injury he picked up at Sunderland. Harry Kane is expected to start after coming on as a substitute at Anderlecht midweek.
Fazio, Son, Bentaleb and Chadli are all still out.
Match Prediction
AFC Bournemouth 1 – 3 Tottenham.
Bournemouth have a long list of injuries to deal with. Top goal scorer Callum Wilson is out for the majority of the season with the creative Max Gradel and youngster Tyrone Mings also out for the season. With possibly the most creative and attacking threats out I feel it will be difficult for The Cherreis to break down Tottenham’s back four. As well as this, Bournemouth have only managed one clean sheet in the league this season, a stat I believe will continue today. Spurs are one of the heavyweights in the Premier League fighting for Europe, Bournemouth are fighting for survival. The gulf in class between the two might be shown today.