Who will play up front for the Cherries against Liverpool?

In the last round of the Capital One Cup it was a fairly simple choice for Eddie Howe to select Tokelo Rantie and Yann Kermorgant to start the match against West Brom. Yann Kermorgant had just served out his three match ban and needed a game to get back into the swing of it, while TK had not seen much football but had been scoring well with Development squad and South Africa. The West Brom game had seen a bit of a change around since the Cardiff game in the third round, when Brett Pitman had played up front on his own, so what does Eddie do now?

Brett is AFCB's second highest scorer this season and will play I believe.

Yann could be kept on the subs bench if Eddie Howe
decides Callum Wilson can play three games in eight days.

There are a few ways Eddie Howe could set up the team against a Liverpool side who will be strong even if it is mainly or entirely made up of their squad players. Tokelo Rantie is not expected back until the New Year and Callum Wilson you would expect to be rested on the bench as he was in the West Brom match, when he came on late in the game to score the winner. While Jayden Stockley is back at the club, my understanding is that he can't play before the New Year for the first team as his loan contract at Cambridge United was cut short, so that would preclude him from playing in this match.

So the likelihood is that we will see Brett Pitman and Yann Kemorgant as the striking partnership for the Liverpool match as long as Eddie chooses to play two up front. The two of them have been vying for the starting place against each other with Callum Wilson being the first pick for league matches. It is a partnership that has not played frequently and Brett has just scored one league cup goal this season, while Yann is yet to register a goal in the competition. Brett is also the form play in terms of having six goals this season as opposed to Yann's four Championship goals. 

Is it too tempting to start with Callum Wilson?

AFCB will be short of a little pace if Yann and Brett lead the line, although Ryan Fraser and Junior Stanislas can add that pace to the team on the wings. It would really be an opportunity for Yann or Brett to show that they are the striker that should be considered for more of a run in the first team, and if they do well and AFCB progress there could be a semi-final to look forward to in the Capital One Cup for them.

There is the chance that Eddie Howe will decide to go all out for Liverpool though, and in that case it would not be a surprise to see Callum Wilson allowed to start, despite the importance of the Blackpool league game next weekend. AFCB's first ever semi-final in a national cup competition would be special, but the league has to remain the priority.



We'll have a special Rival Lines with Anfield Online tomorrow as we continue the build up to Bournemouth's Capital One Cup Quarter Final on Wednesday.
All Departments has released its latest podcast on the 5-3 win against Cardiff City to send AFCB back to the top of the table. Visit the All Departments' website or scroll down the right hand panel on the Cherry Chimes' site to the sound bar for All Departments and click on it to listen.