Grabban v Wilson - head to head

We knew that there would come a time when Lewis Grabban lined up against the Cherries as soon as he signed for Norwich City in the summer. The first instance has come early in August and Lewis has home advantage at Carrow Road. He has started well with a goal against Watford and a brace against Blackburn Rovers with the obligatory penalty kick of course, and now has four goals having netted against Ipswich in their last league game. By the way, he missed his 23rd minute pen against Blackburn but scored from the rebound - lucky? But he is bound to be compared to AFCB's new signing up front as Callum Wilson has a similar pace and hunger for goals as Lewis.

Is Grabban destined to draw a blank against the Cherries?

While Grabban is now the experienced striker and has earned his place in the Canaries starting line up, he will have to continue that work rate and scoring knack that made him so liked on the south coast. He is also having to deal with the immense pressure of being a striker at a big club and seems to be thriving on it and life in the Championship. Does that make him a better striker than Wilson? Well, at the moment professional pundits would probably say so, as he has had more experience of the Championship, but I would not like to bet who will score more goals this season as it could be a very close affair between the two. From what I have seen of Wilson so far he does not run as often out wide, diagonally to the corners as Lewis did when he was in a Bournemouth shirt. Instead he relies more on his speed to be away on the turn before defenders notice him move. I think this is fine but that he could benefit from playing a bit more in a way that draws other AFCB players into the game. He cannot always be the one who has the finish on goal and Grabban was good at knowing when he could play someone else in when they were better placed to score. I still believe Wilson is adding this to his game and will get there very soon.

Callum Wilson with Marc Pugh.

At present though it is enough that he is looking to score at every opportunity because we have already seen that Yann Kermorgant, Harry Arter and Eunan O'Kane will look for him to get in behind. On his day though I would back Wilson to score when one-on-one with a keeper, like he did at Huddersfield, whereas Grabban was not usually as comfortable with that scenario. What he can do though is pull a goal out from know where with a thunderous strike. I haven't yet seen that from Callum Wilson, but here's hoping Callum can do it against Norwich City and add to his three goal tally for this season in the Championship. 


Finally, we see that Eddie Howe is still looking to strengthen his forward line with Derby's Johnny Russell having apparently made two bids which were turned down for the 24-year-old, former Dundee Utd striker. Whether Russell or another striker comes in, the Cherries are keen on getting a forward in perhaps in case of injuries, but with only a few days to the window closing it is not going to be easy with teams now hoping to keep hold of the squad they have.

Safe travel for those going to the match today. UTCIAD!