AFC Bournemouth welcome Chelsea to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday evening, as the Cherries look to continue their promising start to the Premier League season.
Before the international break, Andoni Iraola’s men produced a stunning comeback against Everton, scoring three goals in the final ten minutes to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory at Goodison Park.
However, Bournemouth will be without Dango Ouattara for the contest, as the winger sustained an ankle injury on international duty with Burkina Faso.
The Cherries will also be without new signing Kepa as he cannot feature against his parent club, with Iraola confirming in his pre-match press conference that Mark Travers will start in between the sticks.
After the summer departure of last season’s top scorer Dominic Solanke, the Cherries have already missed some big chances this campaign, and Iraola says they must start converting these opportunities over the next few weeks.
He said: “We now have a very difficult schedule, in the next seven games we play Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City, we are probably not going to have as many chances against these teams so it is important we improve our finishing.”
Antoine Semenyo picked up the AFC Bournemouth Player of the Month award for August this week, and the Cherries’ manager was quick to praise the Ghanaian’s mentality.
He said: “I am pleased with his numbers (goals and assists), but even more pleased with the attitude he has.
“Against Everton, he was the one who started to carry the team a little bit when it got difficult, he was getting a little bit angry and sometimes that is a good thing.”
AFC Bournemouth v Chelsea kicks off at 8pm on Saturday 14th September, and @nerve_sport will have live text commentary on X.