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Bournemouth vs Southampton: Premier League – live | Premier League

Bournemouth vs Southampton: Premier League – live | Premier League

Important events

A reminder that Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is serving a sideline ban tonight. He will be watching from the stands.

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Tyler Dibling is Southampton's worst kept secret. The 18-year-old winger looks special, and not just because he wears his socks lower than Jack Grealish. Dibling scored a great goal in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich after a lovely pass from Adam Lallana and also won a penalty in the defeat to Manchester United. I'm really looking forward to seeing him tonight.

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And if we mention Manchester Unitedthis is worth reading:

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Graham Potterformer Brighton and Chelsea coach and Sky Sports' guest pundit on MNF this evening, has just done a very poor job of distancing himself from the permanent England job, with Lee Carsley only in the interim management position at the moment.

He is also asked if he has had talks with Manchester United.

I would take everything in the media with a grain of salt. I seem to be the only manager to be linked with Stoke City and Napoli in the same week. I have had many conversations with many people. I think it's best if I keep these conversations private.

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Southampton have only taken one point from their first five gamesdespite having an average of 60% possession in these games. What is heartening for Saints fans is the fact that there are only two teams in Premier League history that have been defeated by a possession average of more than 50%: Wigan in 2012-13 under Bobby Martínez and Birmingham in 2005-06 Steve Bruce.

This suggests that it is not the system that is Southampton's problem. But it's still early. This is a huge game for them and Russell would certainly have targeted it as a rare away game that is very winnable.

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That's not an exaggeration that Russell Martin's Southampton squad is amazing tonight. No strikers, but five of them on the bench, with only one defender next to them. Will Ryan Fraser, the 5ft 4in Scottish dynamo, take over? Or will it be Maxwel Cornet, on loan from West Ham who hasn't played a Premier League game since January but is in the starting line-up tonight? Aaron Ramsdale, perhaps less surprisingly, starts against his former team.

Bournemouth have changed a few things since the defeat at Anfield but their XI is more or less what you would expect. Adam Smith comes into the team tonight to replace Araujo and captain Bournemouth. What a servant the Englishman has been for the club. Meanwhile, Evanilson is still searching for his first Cherries goal.

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The teams!

AFC Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Semenyo, Ouattara, Tavernier, Evanilson.
Subs: Travers, Huijsen, Brooks, Scott, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Araujo, Unal, Aarons.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Taylor, Downes, Ugochukwu, Cornet, Fernandes, Fraser, Dibling.
Subs: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Aribo, Armstrong, Lallana, Stewart, Brereton, Archer, Onuachu.

Referee: Michael Oliver

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preamble

We're still in the honeymoon phase of 2024-25: after a few dates, there were a few butterflies, a few nervous but excited looks, and all we know at this point is that we're excited to hear more experience. And in the case of Bournemouth and Southampton, there is a lot to learn: the home side are still adapting, replacing an expensive striker (Dominic Solanke) with another (Evanilson) as well as a new goalkeeper between the posts (Kepa), while Southampton are becoming a social experiment about how brave/stupid a football team can be if they continue to play from the back. The Saints may still be the bookmakers' favorites to avoid relegation, but they came awfully close to their first win of the season last time out against Ipswich – have they turned things around?

This may not be a traditional highlight of an event/date or particularly romantic, but there are a few things that pique our interest. Just don't call Bournemouth vs Southampton a derby.

Start: 8:00 p.m. BST.

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