This is a fan’s personal view of AFC Bournemouth from the outside looking in. It reports on the daily official activities reported by the club and comments made by individual fans on social media and fanbase websites. Life as an AFCB fan is never dull. As a life-long supporter of the Cherries, it is the friendliness of the staff, fans and my enthusiasm for the club that inspired me to write this blog.
I was as shocked as any fan to see Lewis Cook among the starters for the match with Everton. Unbeknown to us he had two games in the weeks running up to his first league match and was able to play a good hour against Everton. Eddie Howe said his team really needed him to play and his impact could be seen right from the start.
Lewis Cook dominated the game for the first 25 minutes against Everton.
Lewis didn't hide but tried to dominate the game. It was the kind of performance that the team had been lacking. Everything went through him for the first 25 minutes and he looked by far the best Bournemouth player on the pitch. It was really a personal battle between him and Gylfi Sigurddson as to who would come out on top. It wasn't just the industry of Lewis Cook that was good it was his quickness of thought and his ability to make the passes, when others found it had to play a team-mates feet. The crowd clearly enjoyed seeing Lewis back in action and the way they responded to his every touch will have given him an even better feeling inside, which certainly helped his game. For me he was man of the match, because he shouldn't have been that good coming back into the team after coming back from a horrendous injury, but he was brave and was pleased to start which was throwing him in at the deep end.
With Jefferson Lerma having had a long flight back to the UK and Surman perhaps too defensive for the role Eddie Howe had in mind for Lewis Cook, the manager took the risk that Lewis could run his heart out for the first hour, as he had done a lot of running in training. It worked and now Eddie has a bit of a headache in working out who to start in the middle against Southampton this Friday.
Everton might be favourites to beat Bournemouth but they are not going to be that confident coming to Dean Court, having only one away on the League Cup so far this season. In fact Everton have not scored in their two Premier League matches at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
AFCB need Everton to continue their poor away form.
The Toffees' strike rate is averaging one goal a match and three of their four league goals came in their last home match against Wolves. Richarlison is their top scorer on two and new signing Iwobi from Arsenal has a goal, along with Bernard. Richarlison will try and forget about the last time he was at Dean Court and was sent off when he had been in hot form. AFCB know he has a short fuse and may well try and rattle him again.
Michael Kean has had a busy week and made a bit of a clanger against Kosovo when playing for England, so hopefully Bournemouth's attackers will press him when he is in possession. But he will be a threat at corners as we saw in mid-week. Everton's big signing over the summer was Fabien Delph who has fallen out of favour with Southgate's selection for England. Delph may be finding that games are not so easy to win being without his ex-Man City team-mates.
The player that still unlocks doors for Everton though is Gylfi Sigurdsson. He has had a quiet first few games this season, but has that quality from dead ball situations to hurt any team in the Premier League. So Everton have their star players and Bournemouth will really need to show a lot more control and organisation than they did up at Leicester City a couple of weeks ago, but home advantage could mean a lot in this game. Bournemouth really need the points if they are not to find themselves in the bottom three come next weekend! Everton Form DWLW AFCB Home Form DWLL
Everton have managed to overtake AFCB in the league but just like Bournemouth they have had their big defeats and disappointments. In fact, I'd say that being mid-table and on 27 points from 21 games is probably seen as under performing for Everton, so are they a better team than the one that had a 2-0 lead at Dean Court earlier this season and ended up only getting a point?
Bournemouth drew the first game against Everton last August
but Bournemouth had the advantage for 20 minutes
before Adam Smith was sent off.
The game that is perhaps always special to Everton is their derby against Liverpool and while they lost that game in early December, there was lots to take out of that game and their narrow 1-0 defeat. We saw a much more energetic and go-getting Everton side that day, and while they have found it difficult to get points off of the top six, they have been playing some attractive football again.
Everton have scored 32 goals just like AFCB and they have done it with midfield goals as well as Richarlison's goals. The player that probably is not talked about as much as others is Sigurrdson. He has started to fit in much better at Everton now, and he is scoring wonderful goals again. AFCB have to put Lerma on him to try and stop his passing and look to frustrate him. Silva could also choose to bring Adeloma Lookman into their team after his excellent performance in the FA Cup last week.
Theo Walcott has also been getting goals of late and he has a good record against AFCB. The defence is perhaps the area where Everton have not managed to make great strides this season. Pickford has his moments of brilliance and risk taking, while the older guard of Coleman and Baines are not always getting games now. But Michael Keane is said to be having a good season and he scored against Bournemouth in our last encounter. AFCB have to believe that Everton are not unbeatable. Lincoln pushed them close in the FA Cup and there are no surprises about Everton and the way they play. Daily Telegraph - What does your team need this transfer window? Cherry Chimes gives an opinion on AFC Bournemouth, but you'll have to register with the Daily Telegraph to read the full article. Look out this weekend for Cherry Chimes on the Royal Blue Mersey blog Cherry Chimes speaks to Matthew Chandler to give a pre-match opinion on the Cherries' season ahead of Everton v AFCB.
T-Shirt Competition Send in your score predictions for Everton v AFCB to @Cherry Chimes. We will pick a winner from the correct entries sent in by 12pm on Sunday. I have lots of medium sized T-shirts left, so come on the medium-sized T-shirt wearers!
Everton have started this season with a draw and a win. They are in the top half of the table and have been one of the few big spenders that have done well with their new signings. The most important factor though has to be the managerial change they made in the summer and the ability of Marco Silva to get his message across to his players in such a short time.
Last season's Everton went down to a 2-1 defeat at Dean Court
The player that has impressed most is top signing Richarlison from Watford. Everyone was staggered at the £40m price tag, but after two games it looks very good business for Everton. Stopping Richarlison will be a major part of Howe's talk with defenders this week. Richarlison has been in the goals and has been a positive force whenever Everton go forward. Both he and Theo Walcott got the goals in their last game against Southampton and the speed of Everton's attacks is certainly one of their strengths. Gylfi Sigurdsson also seems more settled in his second season at Everton and is the player pulling little passes behind the forwards to create opportunities.
While Calvert-Lewin and Niasse were major fixtures last season they have been coming off the bench. The back four though is more or less what Allardyce used with Baines, Keane, Holgate and Coleman providing protection for Jordan Pickford. The player of course who they have lost for a few games is Phil Jagielka who was sent off against Wolves. But Everton have been playing with more energy and purpose since Silva took over and it can be expected that this will be Bournemouth's hardest test so far this season.
Sam Allardyce made Everton more solid in stopping teams find space against them. But Silva has added more attacking intent to their game. Bournemouth have to get Everton more concerned about whether they are defending well enough. That means stopping the forward runs of players like Baines and looking to get in behind Everton when he does push forward. It will be an intriguing battle between Brooks and Baines on Bournemouth's right side and Howe will have to help Brooks take on one of the most experienced left backs in the country. Bournemouth will note though that, while Everton have been putting points on the board they have let in three goals from their first two games - they have vulnerabilities. Everton have scored first in their first two games as well and they might find things a bit more difficult if Bournemouth can get a fast start on Saturday.
Everton splashed the cash this summer in an attempt to compete for a top six place, but things have not gone to plan so far for Ronald Koeman who has looked far from happy at the slow start the Merseysiders have made. At Goodison you would expect Everton to be taking the majority of points on offer, and they have picked up three points up against Stoke City there. It was the heavy 0-3 defeat to Spurs in early September that hurt them.
Can Goodison be a happy hunting ground for the Cherries?
Since then Everton have found it a challenge to score but they did put three past Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, and they should be more confident about home fixtures again. Considering that they have also played Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd it's easy to see why the points have been a bit slow in accumulating for Koeman. He'll be less impressed if Bournemouth take any points off them, a side that has managed to beat them just once in the last two seasons.
Everton have good players and will be one of the best sides that Bournemouth have come up against so far on an away ground. I'd suspect their problem is trying to integrate so many new signings into a team that works together rather than as a group of individuals, but they do have leaders in Wayne Rooney, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and Leighton Baines. When they get organised they will improve quickly and we'll have to hope they are not yet at that point when the Cherries visit.
The loss of Romelo Lukaku cannot be over exaggerated. He was the main goalscorer and while Gylfi Sigurdsson will score double figures along with Rooney, Davy Klaassen is new to the Premier League and it may be asking too much for him to soon to rack up the goals. Sandro Ramirez also has much to get to grips with in joining an Everton side that is used to getting results at home, and in wearing the number nine shirt he will soon learn from the Goodison crowd if he is not good enough. Patience is what Koeman needs, but he doesn't have that luxury when Everton sit just one point above the Cherries after five games and what is of real concern is the lack of goals - just two in league matches. What Koeman will need is for the Everton fans to stick with the team, but if they find the going hard against Bournemouth the frustrations of previous weeks could start coming out. Bournemouth are starting to get their game together and it will be a good barometer of how much work Eddie Howe has managed to get done with his side since the early defeats, because the Cherries will need a performance to get anything at Goodison. Everton's Home form WL AFCB's Away Form LL
Don't think that AFCB have done all the hard work yet. Their next game against Swansea will be their most tricky game that they have faced in 2017 in my mind, as the need for both teams to get the points is bigger than ever. While AFCB have just beaten a team higher up in the league it is the lower half teams that are really scrapping for everything, and this game might not be pretty, but neither team can afford to lose at this stage of the season.
AFCB have to be ready for this massive game before the international break.
Swansea may be slightly weakened not only because they had a disappointing defeat against relegation rivals Hull City last week, but because they also suffered two injuries to key players in the first half with Angel Rangel and Fernando Llorente having to come off and Martin Olsson had to play on with his injury. Rangel is out for the season, while Kyle Naughton, the right back, is recovering from a hamstring pull that he had against Burnley. Can AFCB exploit these problems? Eddie Howe will have to consider what the injuries might mean to a Swansea side that is desperate to pick up points. Paul Clement has given Swansea fans fresh hope though and with Gylfi Sigurdsson on the pitch they always have a punchers chance of coming up with something special.
Swansea have scored in four of their last five away games, but they have won just two of those games against Liverpool and Crystal Palace. Like AFCB, they tend to leave the back door open and this game has the likelihood of being quite a high scoring affair. Just like AFCB they also have eight wins now which is a tremendous recovery from where they were before the New Year. But if Llorente is not fit, the goals for Swansea may dry up a little. They can't play safe and while AFCB have been finding it hard to keep clean sheets, Swansea will not sit back. Wayne Routledge got himself into the scoring positions against Hull City, even if he did not manage to put away his early chance - AFCB must be mindful of players like him. The Swans will have highlighted this game as one in which they must pick up something. It is that prospect which might actually play into AFCB's hands if they can remain patient. UTCIAD.
Swansea Away Form WWLLL AFCB Home Form DDLLW You can also read some views I gave to Read Swansea and another piece on SOS Swansea before today's game.
This week, I had the chance to grab a few words with the Swansea Oh Swansea Fanzine ahead of AFCB's game with the Swans who have been wondering if they can get out of the bottom three. It's been a strange last couple of years for the Welsh side and losing some of their big hitters has weakened their squad. With a new American manager and owners I wonder if Swansea City are losing their identity and worse still losing their fans.
CC: Is Bob Bradley the right man for the job at Swansea City? (this question was set pre-Bob Bradley's sacking this week)
SOS: No way is he the man for us, but sadly we’re stuck with him. He doesn’t suit us at all and we’ve got worse since he took over. There’s a lot wrong at the club at the moment and to be fair a lot of it isn’t his fault either. However he’s completely out of his depth and if we want to stay up someone else needs to come in. [Ed- Gary Rowett and Paul Clement are the front runners for the job at the moment.]
CC: Do you think the whole American ownership of the club has backfired?
SOS: At this stage there can be no doubt it has. Sadly, the previous regime took their eye of the ball and put their own financial gain above the club’s needs. The transfer window last summer was awful as we lost likes of Ashley Williams and Andre Ayew and didn’t replace them. We needed to improve the squad after a mediocre campaign last time around and they failed to put any money up for transfers so as a result we are struggling.
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CC: Are Swansea City fans still very optimistic of ending the season outside of the bottom three?
SOS: Most think we’re in real trouble. The one saving grace if we’re not cut out from the pack above us just yet and the transfer window does open shortly so reinforcements could bolster our chances though. Many though don’t believe the board will make enough money available to sort this mess out and even if they do we also don’t trust them to sign the right players either.
CC: Are there any targets that you have heard about that could come to Swansea in January and are there any strikers you would personally like to see at the club to help you stay up?
SOS: We’ve been linked to a few, winger Luciano Narsingh from PSV is one and he would probably be an upgrade on what we’ve got. Our wingers are so bad it’s crazy, between them they’ve only had a couple of assists this season. Up front I actually think we’re not bad, Fernando Llorente and Borja Baston as both proven strikers, but without service what can they do? Elsewhere we must improve defensively, we’re an absolute shambles in that area. Ideally, we need a centre back and full back on each side which is asking a lot in one window. I’d like another midfielder too to be honest so there’s a lot of work to do in January.
CC: The Crystal Palace game was a rare highlight but it could have been disastrous. Have you lost the momentum from that win and the win against Sunderland?
SOS: Palace was just a bonkers game really, the kind that happens about once a decade. At 3-1 up I'm thinking we’ll win comfortably, 3-2 I’m worried, 3-3 convinced we’ll lose, then 3-4 I want to leave as I’m fuming. Then we somehow score twice to win 5-4. I wasn’t convinced it was a turning point, because it was such a bizarre game. I was more hopeful after Sunderland as we actually played well, especially in the second half. But then were awful at West Brom and Middlesbrough so now it looks like a one off sadly.
CC: Do you feel the club needs a leader, a big captain like you had with Ashley Williams?
SOS: Yes he’s been missed hugely, not just for the fact he was a great defender but he was a real leader. It was obvious once he left his were huge boots to fill, but as usual we did it on the cheap with Alfie Mawson from Barnsley. I think in the long term he might be good, but we needed someone proven to replace such a huge figure for us.
CC: Is there any player that you don't want to see go in January or would the money be good to get some new signings in?
SOS: There should be money there without having to sell anyone we need. We made a profit on transfers this summer in spite of the new bumper TV deal so if anyone goes they need to be because we want them out. If someone like Gylfi Sigurdsson left then we may as well throw in the towel. We’d probably have only single figure points if it wasn’t for him.
CC: Can you get something against AFC Bournemouth who have only had one win on the road?
SOS: We have to target games like this to win. It’s a winnable game on paper but I’m not convinced it’ll be won. If you play like you did at the Liberty last year we’ve got no chance. You battered us to be fair and reminded me of when we first came into this division – not many star names on paper, but a clear philosophy which is very easy on the eye and everyone pulling in the same direction for one of the brightest young managers in the game. How I long to go back to those days.
CC: What do you expect to be your starting line up for the game?
SOS: Bradley is notoriously unpredictable, likes to make changes so he may do here. I’ll guess Fabianski, Naughton, Amat, Van Der Hoorn, Taylor, Fulton, Cork, Barrow, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Llorente.
CC: Many thanks for the Swansea Oh Swansea Fanzine. I have also answers a coupe of questions for the fanzine which you may see this weekend. Both teams really need a win to halt their bad runs and this could be quite an open game. The change of manager for Swansea will see a chance for them to change their attitudes to a more positive frame of mind, so AFCB have to try and give Swansea City something to worry about early on - a few shots in the first 10-15 minutes will be what AFCB fans will hope to see and a dominant performance against a bottom three side. UTCIAD!
While expecting a close game, it was something of an unexpected pleasure to see a five goal thriller at Dean Court between two teams that were moving towards safety. Steve Cook got the decisive goal from a bullet header with 12 minutes to go, but Swansea had twice come from behind to equalise the scores before Cook's defining goal. With Max Gradel scoring his first goal of the season and Josh King adding another to his goal tally, the Cherries are suddenly finding it easier to score at Dean Court and while goals from Modou Barrow and Gylfi Sigurdsson made it a tight match, the Cherries will sit proudly in 13th place in the table this week after securing their first back to back home wins of the season. As I left the ground a steward said to me: "that'll do, that'll do nicely!" Indeed, AFCB will be pleased with that.
Swansea play all in white with their home strip.
AFCB are structuring themselves for another season in the Premier League.
There was no change to Eddie Howe's starting line up, which meant there was no Harry Arter in the squad as he had not come through a late fitness test on his Achilles and Juan Iturbe was brought into the squad along with Eunan O'Kane while Glenn Murray sat this one out.
Swansea players encourage each other.
The Cherries get ready to go into their huddle.
Swansea brought in Leroy Fer and Modou Barrow to their starting 11 and Ki Sung-Yueng came into the squad. There are more photographs on Match Day Gallery.
CherryChimes' FanCam: Swansea City fans Trevor and Stephen give their pre-match views.
First Half
Josh King had the first chance to make a keeper work but his header from Max Gradel's cross looped onto the top of the net, having glanced off the bar, as he headed back across goal. Swansea also come forward in the first five minutes with Wayne Routledge firing wide on the volley after a cross from Jack Cork.
Alberto Paloschi, Swansea's number 9, had a high work rate and was trying to make Bournemouth's back line hurry, but Daniels made a good run on seven minutes linking up with Gradel before delivering a cross for King who blasted over from around the penalty spot under some pressure. If he had hit the target it was likely to have been unstoppable.
Matt Ritchie had an adventurous volley that was wild as it was wide of the goal, but Lukasz Fabianski had to work harder when coming out at the feet of Gradel a few moments later.
AFCB then had a free kick on the edge of the box and, as we waited for Gradel to take it, Ritchie moved the ball to Surman who stuck it quickly and caused the keeper to dive hastily to his right, but the ball struck the post and rebounded with 13 minutes gone.
Swansea also won a free kick on the right and Federico Fernandez got his head to it first and glanced his attempt across goal and wide of the left upright. Boruc seemed confident it was going wide, even if we were more concerned in the stands. Swansea were having joy on the right wing with Barrow giving Daniels all kinds of trouble. The Cherries' left back eventually stopped him in the box, but with a challenge that caused AFCB fans to wonder if it would be a penalty. Luckily it was only given as a corner by referee Roger East and on replay it's clear the challenge was outside the box.
The Cherries next attack saw the ball pulled back by King from the byline only for Fernandez to intercept and to almost run it too strongly back towards his own goal. AFCB started to compress the play with the back four pushing up which seemed to cause Swansea to over pass and lose possession. Josh King was making his darting runs but was well shadowed by Fernandez. Afobe though was finding it harder to do more than offer his services to take the ball facing his own players on the half way line or just beyond.
A corner to the Cherries saw Dan Gosling make a header that went through low to the keeper without much threat of a goal though.
Gylfi Sigurdsson had been quiet up to this point but rifled a shot just wide of the right post on 27 minutes.
A foul on Adam Smith gave Ritchie a chance to put in a special free kick and he tested Fabianski who tipped the shot over the bar. Dan Gosling had not been able to get forward that much and picked up a yellow card for a foul on the energetic Barrow after 34 minutes.
Ashley Williams was happy to marshal King away from goal, but when the Cherries' forward did get free on the right and sent in a deep cross come shot, Fabianski palmed it away, but only into the waiting feet of Max Gradel who steadied himself before driving the ball into the bottom left corner of the net - 1-0! Gradel's celebration was all for Eddie Howe as he run all the way over to hug him in front of a jubilant home crowd.
That celebration was short lived as a quick run down the right wing from Barrow after the restart saw him cut inside Daniels with a few step overs, and then spring an early shot around Surman and into the bottom left corner of AFCB's goal with Boruc well beaten for pace, accuracy and the curl on the ball - 1-1.
This encouraged Swansea to push forward even more with their fans getting right behind them. Wayne Routledge was again finding space but was having one of those days when he shot wide of the target again. As half time arrived 1-1 seemed a bit of a small reward for some of the Cherries' play.
The players come off at half time.
Half time score.
Paloschi and Sigurdsson kick off the second half.
Second half
Eunan O'Kane replaced Dan Gosling at half time. It was a difficult start to the half for Barrow though who went down with a head injury and then looked more in pain from his limp than his bang on the head as he staggered over to the sidelines.
The AFCB fans were soon excited by Max Gradel getting on the ball again and his pass to Josh King on the right side of the box was the perfect ball for Josh who smashed in the second goal for AFCB, even though Fabianski got a good hand to the shot before it rattled in off the right hand post.
At 2-1 up with 49 minutes gone, there was a feeling of confidence that another Cherries win was perhaps on the cards. Swansea were just about to have a better period of the game though. They started to look like they wanted to ball more and the intent was soon shown with a shot that went wide from Angel Rangel.
Gradel felt the full force of Rangel's late challenge too and Swansea's number 22 went in the book. Adam Smith was making a few more runs up the right now and O'Kane won a corner from which the step over corner, without a step over! That meant Josh King had a shot to nothing until he slipped - probably with too much excitement - and he skewed his shot!
Swansea brought on Gomis for Routledge on the hour to go to 4-4-2. The change caused problems as just two minutes later with Gomis station on the edge of the D he found Rangel. The ball was moved on to Barrow on the right and his pull back saw Gylfi Sigurdsson run straight onto the pass, slipping his shot effortlessly past Boruc's right hand and it was 2-2!
Both sides could really do with these points to go safe, but there was a nervousness now about some of AFCB's play and Swansea's players knew they has a good foot in the game. Barrow again was the menace winning a corner on 65 minutes when a Swansea header, followed by a shot in the box went just over!
Eddie Howe withdrew Benik Afobe and put on Lewis Grabban on 65 minutes. It had not been a strong day for Benik. AFCB were also losing their way a bit so it was no surprise that Eddie decided to change things.
Josh King picked up a knock to the head but was soon up again. Grabban was having problems getting up to the pace of the game with some of his passes going straight to the opposition. Daniels was now making big tackles with Barrow again running freely at him again. Would AFCB have to settle for a draw at best?
With Gradel also struggling it was time to bring Marc Pugh on after 76 minutes. If the Cherries did not know this game was still up for grabs they did when Paloschi made a sharp turn and shot that Boruc had to be lively to as the shot took him off his feet, before O'Kane cleared the danger.
That got the Cherries going forward again. King managed to win a corner and Ritchie took it from the left side to find Steve Cook leaping majestically above everyone at the far post to make it 3-2, with his second home goal in consecutive games, comfortably beating Fernandez in the air.
Swansea made a quick sub with Barrow, who had been great, coming off for Marvin Emnes with 10 minutes to go. But AFCB were still looking for more goals and Grabban almost executed a great chip shot that forced Fabianski to make a great save stepping backwards to tip over.
Leroy Fer was also replaced on 84 minutes as Ki Sung-Yeung came on for him. There were calls for a handball from Swansea fans after a Steve Cook clearance but play was waved on. It has to be the first time that "Sweet Chariot" was sung at Dean Court, much to the amusement of the fans near me. A shot from Emnes resulted in more shouts for handball off of Daniels, but with four minutes of extra time Swansea could not find another equaliser.
Three more points for the Cherries.
Summary
The Cherries might not be quite safe mathematically yet, but they have made it extremely difficult for the teams below them in the bottom four to catch them in time now. There was not much of a difference in terms of quality between these two teams and yet I did not feel that the Cherries really were in top form. Ritchie was energetic and yet could not get as involved as perhaps he would have liked, while Afobe will be disappointed with his lack of attempts on goal. But the bigger picture is what the team has achieved in terms of points this season and for me it was another man of the match performance from Josh King. The harder games are all lined up in a row now, but the Cherries can go into these next few games knowing that they can play without the pressure of having to look to hard over their shoulders anymore. The carrot of a top 10 finish is astonishingly there to fight for with Chelsea in 10th only sitting two points ahead - what a great first Premier League season for the Cherries!
Boruc 7, Smith 6, Francis 6, Cook 7, Daniels 7, Ritchie 6, Gosling 6 (O'Kane 6), Surman 6, Gradel 7 (Pugh 6), King 8, Afobe 6 (Grabban 6) Ref Watch: Roger East 4/10 A bit slow in finding his yellow cards. Would have like to see advantage played a more often at times and some of the so called fouls were really nothing at all.
Swansea City
Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Fer (Ki Sung-Yueng 84), Barrow (Emnes 80), Sigurdsson, Routledge (Gomis 60) Paloschi
Swansea Subs
Nordfeldt, Amat, Ki Sung-yueng, Britton, Emnes, Gomis, Naughton
Just a simple look at the last few away games that Swansea have had reveals that the Swans are not a side that mind playing away from home. It was back on 28 December when they last failed to score in an away match against Crystal Palace and before that the Saints also held them 0-0 in early December.
Harry Arter will hopefully be back to take on Swansea.
The Swans usually have a goal in them which means the Cherries are likely to need two goals to have a chance of another home win. While the Cherries managed a clean sheet at home against Southampton there will be even more ambition about this Swansea side who will know that a win would take them above AFCB in the table. A draw is perhaps a good bet for this game considering that the two were all square at the Liberty stadium earlier in the season. Swansea have not particularly spent the cash in January. Leroy Fer has joined on loan from QPR but the big action for them in January was to see Jonjo Shelvey leave for Newcastle Utd. It has been a season for their fans to forget having seen Gary Monk ousted and a promising start turn into a relegation scrap, but there are signs that the team has turned the corner now having had some good wins in January and a vital win last weekend against Norwich City. They only have Aston Villa and Newcastle to play though of teams in the bottom half after AFCB and they will be under pressure to get something in this match. It is the midfield battle that will be most eagerly contested area on the pitch. Getting the better of Gylfi Sigurdsson in particular is what AFCB will hope for and for that we may need to see the return of Harry Arter. Possible AFCB Team (4-4-2) Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Ritchie, Surman, Arter, Gradel, King, Afobe AFCB Subs Federici, Distin, Elphick, Pugh, Gosling, Grabban, Murray
I looked at the other scores while AFCB were putting Newcastle Utd to the sword only to see that Swansea City were putting the finishing touches on their home win against Norwich City. That man, Gylfi Sigurdsson was at it again and had fired the Swans ahead to keep their momentum going before the big match against the Cherries.
The Swans are very hard to beat at the moment and
the two sides could very well share the points again.
We know all about Swansea City's style of play that was so cultured and captivating under Gary Monk and now has been rejuvenated by a steely determination which has seen the Swans go two games unbeaten, with four wins in their last 10 games. It is the teams that they have beaten in that run that make you look up and take notice as well - Everton, Watford and Arsenal. Beating those kind of teams is something that AFCB have not managed yet and Swansea City are hard on the Cherries tail in the table. Much of the Welsh team's current spurt in form I see coming from the impact that Ashley Williams has made. He had not scored for something like 18-months before he netted against Watford in January to win them all three points and he has been doing it again of late with a winner against Arsenal. These were crucial goals in big games and AFCB will have to watch him at corners and free kicks. Sigurdsson as well is a man for the Cherries to be worried about from free kicks and in general play. He now has eight goals which is level with Andre Ayew another player that has started to find form in this rapidly improving Swansea side. The Swans climb up the table has also been accomplished while Francesco Guidolin has been hospitalised with a chest infection, but the manager was released from hospital on Monday, even though he says he won't be on the touchline for this game. In the meantime, Alan Curtis has deputised again though and he has been getting the results. So Eddie Howe will be aware that there is a growing confidence about this Swansea team and that they are likely to be a tougher proposition than Newcastle Utd. Norwich Away Form LWDLW AFCB Home Form LWLLW
Score Predictions What are your score predictions for AFCB v Swansea City this weekend? Send in your score predictions to @CherryChimes on Twitter to be in with a chance to win an AFCB autograph book. It is free entry. Please make it clear the score you are giving to each team. If more than one person picks the correct score we will draw a winner from a hat and the prize will roll over if nobody gets it right.
