Bournemouth face Champions League outfit Girona in a pre-season friendly on August 10. The match takes place at the Vitality Stadium. Here is our Bournemouth predicted lineup.
Bournemouth Predicted Lineup vs Girona in Final Pre-Season Test
How Bournemouth Most Recently Lined-up
Bournemouth have been pretty textbook in terms of formations in their pre-season tests so far. Andoni Iraola’s 4-2-3-1 has been the favoured shape since his arrival last summer, and it looks set to stay that way for now.
So far, in the three public pre-season friendlies, Alex Scott is the only player to be named in every starting lineup. Iraola clearly is putting a lot of faith in the former Bristol City man.
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Daniel Jebbison and Dean Huijsen were also given their home debut against Rayo Vallecano, and both impressed giving Cherries fans lots to be positive about heading into the Premier League season.
Marcus Tavernier was used in the attacking midfield spot, a position he isn’t normally placed in. However, Iraola yet again proved he can find players a new position that they could be great at. His lethal finishing lends itself well to the box-crashing nature of an attacking midfielder.
Mark Travers kept a clean sheet last time out against Rayo Vallecano, with question marks still hovering over the number one position. This upcoming fixture could be telling as to who will be starting against Nottingham Forest on opening day.
So far, we haven’t really seen a “full strength” eleven all on the pitch at once. Perhaps, with the league season kicking off in just over a week, expect to see the Cherries start to field their strongest squad, with Iraola and his staff formulating their primary team to take to the field at the City Ground.
Bournemouth’s Recent Form and Tactics
Bournemouth secured their first pre-season victory against Rayo Vallecano last week; Luis Sinisterra rounded the goalkeeper and proceeded to slot home a winner. Iraola was pleased with the performance against his former employers. The intent on the ball was evident, and the players appeared to leave their lethargic habits back in America, with the ball pace being of a high quality, as passes zipped around the Vitality Stadium.
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The 4-2-3-1 is the favoured shape, and this doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. However, different players have been trialled out in new roles. For example, Dango Ouattara featured up front towards the closing stages of last week’s friendly.
Against Girona, expect to see players playing in their best position though, with the time for tinkering and trialling coming to an end very soon.
Bournemouth Injuries and Absentees to Consider
Prior to the game against Vallecano, there were very few fresh injury concerns. However, several players were missing from that matchday squad. Bournemouth had nine players unavailable for the victory last week.
Justin Kluivert, Philip Billing, Lewis Cook, Dominic Solanke, Chris Mepham, Tyler Adams, Enes Unal, David Brooks and Owen Bevan were all absentees.
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Kluivert is yet to pull on any of the new shirts, being a permanent absentee throughout Bournemouth’s pre-season. According to the Cherries boss, Billing, Cook, Solanke and Mepham were all hampered with “small things”, keeping them out of the named squad.
Some were in attendance anyway, and sat in the stands to watch their teammates. Interestingly, Solanke was not.
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Currently embroiled in an intense transfer saga, Solanke was omitted from the squad due to a minor toe injury, Illia Zabarnyi later being revealed as the culprit. There were sceptics claiming this must have been a fake injury to keep the Tottenham Hotspur target out of the squad and injury-free ahead of a potential £65 million move.
Adams will remain absent for a number of weeks, as he is on the road to recovery after having to undergo surgery, following his appearances in Copa America this summer for the USMNT. Unal will also be unavailable, as he nurses a broken toe suffered while on international duty prior to Euro 2024. Bevan will be out for a few weeks, after being substituted off after half an hour against Wrexham. Brooks is also still recovering from shoulder surgery, after an injury in the playoff final playing for Southampton.
Bournemouth’s Predicted Lineup
Neto, Kerkez, Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Smith, Cook, Scott, Tavernier, Ouattara, Semenyo, Jebbison.
