The race is on now for the best finishing place teams can get and there is every possibility that AFCB can start to chase down teams ahead of them and in particular Everton, who have a worse goal difference and sit just three points above the Cherries.
It is possible for Everton to really gather points quickly after their Merseyside derby, but the Cherries have to maximise their points in their home games to give themselves a chance of moving up the table. The games against Crystal Palace and Man Utd will go a long way to deciding if AFCB are capable of finishing higher than 10th, and the in between Liverpool away game is what could set the Cherries back in their pursuit of Everton.
Pipping Everton would be a great way to end the season and the players need to have some kind of target at the end of the day to push themselves in the remaining games.
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| Can AFCB break out of their attachment with the bottom teams and go after Everton with a win against Palace? |
The next home game for Bournemouth gives them a great chance to draw level on points with the Blue side or Merseyside if Liverpool can do the Cherries a favour. Everton's run in is better than AFCB's with away games to Swansea, Huddersfield and West Ham but they may find that the home form is not so easy after the defeat against Man City. Meanwhile, Southampton could be fighting for their lives as well as Newcastle, when they visit Goodison.
It is possible for Everton to really gather points quickly after their Merseyside derby, but the Cherries have to maximise their points in their home games to give themselves a chance of moving up the table. The games against Crystal Palace and Man Utd will go a long way to deciding if AFCB are capable of finishing higher than 10th, and the in between Liverpool away game is what could set the Cherries back in their pursuit of Everton.
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Whether Bournemouth should consider a 10th place finish a good season we will have to wait and see, because I think the points total will be a better indication of how well the team will have performed, in such a tight season. At the moment Everton are favourites to finish higher, but strange things can happen in the remaining games and at the moment we can probably say that the Cherries are fourth in the second league behind Burnley, Leicester and Everton which would have been considered a good finish to me back last August. Considering the poor start this season and the amount of time spent in the bottom three it has been a good recovery. What Bournemouth could have done with a good start though is another story.
Pipping Everton would be a great way to end the season and the players need to have some kind of target at the end of the day to push themselves in the remaining games.
Match Preview - Questions and Answers with the Eagles Beak
There are still points to be had with the remaining fixtures. I have been confident for a while that we would stay out of the relegation fight, and had hoped that we could duplicate last year's 46 points. The injuries to Smith and Stan may slow us down a touch. 45-46 points would land us in 10th, I suspect, really good when you consider that that would be achieved over 34 matches. An average of 4 points every 3 games is a solid season.
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