Howe needs goals but who will score them?

The Cherries have not scored since their 5-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspurs. Going forward they have tried to create and have made many chances for the strikers and midfield players and yet they have not been finding the net. It is therefore of great interest what Eddie Howe is going to do for the match against Swansea. Does he stick with King leading the line? Or does he bring Murray back into the team?

Josh must make the most of his opportunities.

Josh King was said to have his best game in a Bournemouth shirt in his last game against Newcastle, but is it enough that he plays up front on his own and yet fails to score? While it would do him the world of good to get a goal, I don't believe it is the only thing that the team needs from him. It is more important that he stretches play and get the team's midfield players chasing into the box to pick up possible shooting opportunities when he is out wide. I don't want to see him hide though when Simon Francis or Charlie Daniels go on a run and seek to get a low cross into the near post. It is up to King to time his run and get in front of the defender and we have not been seeing enough of that.

With Glenn Murray the Cherries do have a target man that they can hit from long, but I don't think Howe is really happy in playing that way. Murray can turn and run at goal though and we saw him do it against Man City. The belief with Murray is also there. He thinks he can score and the players know he can score, so it is tempting to have Murray involved and if he was carrying a knock last week it is surely prudent to have him on the bench to give the team another way of playing after 60 minutes if the Cherries need to change things up.

The likelihood of Stanislas, Gosling or Ritchie coming up with a goal is only going to be strong if they can be calm and not over work opportunities. If they keep hitting the target one will go in and it is a matter of not getting frustrated. 

I hope Eddie also looks closely at who is on the bench. The subs need to be able to add something meaningful in the second half. Rantie is clearly in form and is now a possibility and Pugh has the coolness in front of goal to be considered. Lee Tomlin and Yann Kermorgant have not shown enough yet and if they are not razor sharp then they have to be left out of the squad. That is probably annoying to Charlton Athletic who have certainly been interested in grabbing Yann back.

My best guess at the AFCB team
Federici, Francis, Cook, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter, Gosling, Surman, Stanislas, King

Cherries Subs
Boruc, Smith, Bennett, MacDonald, Pugh, Rantie, Murray

Possible Swansea team according to the Guardian
Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Ayew, Sigurdsson, Montero, Eder

Swans subs from
Nordfeldt, Tremmel, Ki, Bartley, Rangel, Barrow, Gomis, Emnes, Barrow, Tabanou, Routledge, Britton, Amat, Grimes
Safe journey to those making the trip today. UTCIAD!