A.F.C. Bournemouth v. Swansea City A.F.C. Dean Court Saturday 12 March,15:00 Following the home victory over Norwich, Swansea's next match is away at Bournemouth's Dean Court - the ground with the smallest crowd capacity in the Premier League. The first week in March proved highly fruitful for both the Cherries and the Swans. The Cherries beat Southampton 2-0 and then backed that up with a great 3-1 victory at Newcastle. Whilst the Swans recorded a memorable 2-1 victory at the Emirates - their 3rd victory at Arsenal in 5 PL visits - and then beat Norwich 1-0 courtesy of a Gylfi Sigurdsson winner, following good work by Leroy Fer on his home debut. Swansea currently sit 9 points above the relegation zone, with Bournemouth 2 points further ahead. Victory over the Swans would surely mean that Eddie Howe's Bournemouth will be playing PL football next season, whilst victory for the Swans would mean that they would be on the cusp of safety. I think that it will be a 2-2 draw
They're playing better than us and at home. A draw is the best we can hope for. But we did beat Arsenal, so anything's possible
We are only 15 points off a Euro spot, got to go for the win, Kingsley and Fer to start, but it will all depend if Guido's chest clears up I suppose.......
This will be one of our toughest games of the season. Bournemouth were 2-0 up against us at home and it could easily have been 3 or 4. We managed to pull it back to 2-2 and salvage a point. Both the Swans and Bournemouth had a dip in form after that but both have recently had a couple of wins each. If we play well we can win, but we've got to assert ourselves on Bournemouth. They'll come at us in the first 10 minutes but we've got to weather the storm and then pick them off later in the game. Prediction: Cherries 1 Swans 2 Swans Team ----------------------Fabianski---------------------- Naughton - Williams - Fernandez - Kingsley Routledge - Siggurdson - Fer - Ki - Montero ------------------------Ayew-------------------------- Subs: Thordvelt, Taylor, Barrow, Amat, Gomis, Britton, Peloschi
All ahead full , 3 points . 2- 0 win "......................................................................Fab..................................... .................................Fernandez......................Amat ..............................Williams ........................................................Cork.............................Fer Barrow..................................................................................................................................Montero ...............................Siggy ..........................................................................Ayew ....."..................................................................Paloschi
Go-miss should not be allowed near the bench Curt, please can we see Emnes instead, thank you...........
Got to be optimistic, I say 1-0 swansea. Predicted line up: Fabianski Naughton, Fernández,Ash,Taylor Cork, Fer Ayew, Siggy, Routlage Paloschi
Agree, but we need that defensive player in midfield or on the bench at the very least. For me, Cork does this very well and would allow Fer and Gylfi to attack more freely as I don't have any faith in Ki breaking a sweat at the moment.
We`re going to have to play a hell of a lot better if we`re going to get anything from this game. Bournemouth are starting to show that they have a bit of class, and can score goals, sometimes more than we have achieved all season. At best I can only see us getting a draw, which I won`t sniff at. After this game we`ve got Villa, who haven`t won since the opening day (I think). Knowing our luck their bound to beat us, so let`s put this season to bed with two wins, `cos after these two we`ve got a pretty rough run in.
Bournemouth are a tidy outfit - we traditionally tend to do well against teams that play football and have a go against us (i.e. Arsenal, West Brom, Fulham). Bournemouth at home and in form will have confidence to come at us and that should leave some gaps for us to exploit if we play our cards right. Despite claims from pundits that we've got a leaky defence, we actually have a good goal difference for our league position and our goals conceded column coincides with high-to-mid table teams (Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton). It's our goals scored that's been poor. However, we're creating a hell of a lot more clear chances and shooting opportunities than we have before and are more than capable of causing Bournemouth serious problems should they push on too much and give us space to attack. I'm in the camp that thinks that 1 of Britton/Cork paired with Fer seems like the correct balance. Fer is reminding me a lot of Pratley - a player that we've missed in my opinion (not for his individual talents, but for his style and balance he brought to the midfield). Fer is strong in the tackle, robust in the air, has a shot on him, and uses the ball intelligently. Our best balance in the midfield was Britton, Bodde, Pratley back in the day. I feel like Fer should start against Bournemouth, and unfortunately I'd relegate Britton to the bench. Britton has been huge for us this season, but the game at Arsenal showed us what a midfield of Cork, Fer and Gylfi could produce, and I liked it a lot. Cork the holder, Fer the box-to-box player, Gylfi the playmaker/attacker (it's reminiscent of Britton the holder, Pratley the box-to-box player, Gomez the playmaker/attacker). I feel that Fer could well be the missing piece of the puzzle for us in the middle - not that he's the best player we've signed, but one that gives us balance in that middle. Too early to definitively say though. My team for Bournemouth? Fabianski Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Kingsley Ayew, Fer, Gylfi, Cork, Routledge Paloschi Bench: Nordfelt, Taylor, Amat, Britton, Barrow, Montero, Gomis I can't say for sure, but I think it's a tight pitch up there (similar in size to Pompey's?). Maybe it just looks that way as the stands are smaller. But with that in mind, I don't see the use in having Barrow start. Better utilised in the second half/last 30 mins when more gaps open up. Kingsley can have a run-out. We need to develop this lad, and with 6 points banked from 2 games, this is a good opportunity to throw him into another Premier League game. Hoping we can snatch a 1-1 draw from this game. Anything more is a bonus, but we are certainly capable of winning.
Because we are playing Bournemouth next I watched their game against Newcastle on football first match choice last night. Newcastle were dire defensively whilst Bournemouth kept the ball on the ground and moved it quickly but didn't appear to have much airiel threat. Consequently my team would be:- Fabianski Naughton Amat Williams Kingsley Cork Siggy Fer Routledge Paloschi Ayew Subs: Nordvelt Angel Fernandez Fulton Leon Gorre. I think that Leon and Rangel;s future from here in will be as subs.
True, but I'd rather have him concentrate further up the pitch by having Cork protect the back four as Ki offers nothing in attack nor defence at the moment. Fer looked so comfortable on the ball yesterday. A formation of Fer/Cork/Ki/Gylfi is a very exciting prospect when all are on fire. If Ki can get his act together, we have a midfield that can dominate teams.
