Preview: Bournemouth vs Sturm Graz - prediction, team news, lineups

Eyeing up back-to-back Europa League wins, Bournemouth welcome Sturm Graz to the Vitality Stadium for their first-ever European home match on Thursday night.

While the Cherries celebrated a famous win against Real Sociedad on matchday one, Die Schwoazn picked up a point in their opening match with Rennes.

Match preview

San Sebastian was the setting for a memorable night for Bournemouth as they marked their maiden European match in their 127-year history with a 2-1 away victory over Real Sociedad on matchday one of the Europa League last month.

However, this is one of only two wins posted by the Cherries in eight games across all competitions under new head coach Marco Rose, along with a 4-0 EFL Cup win against second-tier outfit Lincoln City.

Rose is still searching for his first Premier League win after six matches (D3 L3) and his Bournemouth side were put to the sword 5-1 by Chelsea last weekend, leaving them down in 18th place in the table and already seven points behind sixth spot where they finished last season.

Determined to bounce back from a “really bad performance”, Bournemouth must address their defensive frailties if they wish to turn their fortunes around, having only kept one clean sheet across their last 10 competitive fixtures in all tournaments, conceding a joint Premier League-high 13 goals this season.

The Cherries have also prevailed in just four of their 14 home games in 2026 (D8 L2), but success on Thursday would see them become the first English club since Bolton Wanderers back in 2005-06 to win their opening two matches in UEFA competition.

Sturm Graz were one of only four teams out of 36 to draw their opening League Phase fixture in the Europa League, holding French outfit Rennes to a goalless stalemate on home soil four weeks ago.

Die Schwoazn are competing in UEFA competitions for the 11th time this season (four in the Champions League and seven in the Europa League) and they are bidding to advance from a group-stage/League Phase for the very first time – only in 2023-24 when they dropped down into the Conference League and reached the last 16 have they ever competed in the knockout rounds.

Thirty-four-year-old head coach Fabio Ingolitsch has been in charge since January, winning 46.88% of his 32 games in all tournaments, and has overseen an inconsistent start to the 2026-27 Austrian Bundesliga campaign, with four wins, two draws and two defeats posted in eight matches.

Sturm Graz – five-time Austrian top-flight champions – suffered a 3-0 away defeat to Red Bull Salzburg prior to the international break, but they returned to winning ways last weekend when they beat Austria Wien 2-0 on the road, helping them climb up to fourth in the table.

Attention shifts back to the Europa League, and Sturm Graz will endeavour to avoid a fifth successive away defeat in the competition when they travel to Bournemouth, while a run of just one win in nine previous encounters with English clubs (D2 L6) does not bode well ahead of Thursday’s contest.

Bournemouth Europa League form:

Bournemouth form (all competitions):

Sturm Graz Europa League form:

Sturm Graz form (all competitions):

Team News

In-demand Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is facing several weeks on the sidelines with a thigh injury, while Eli Junior Kroupi (foot), Justin Kluivert (muscle), Julian Araujo (thigh), Veljko Milosavljevic (thigh) and Amine Adli (calf) are also unavailable for selection.

Juanlu Sanchez and Daniel Jebbison have both been omitted from their Europa League squad, but Ben Gannon-Doak was brought back in following Kroupi’s injury and is a contender to battle with David Brooks for a start on the wing.

Rayan was on target in Bournemouth’s win over Real Sociedad and is expected to continue on the right flank, while Lewis Cook will be pushing to earn a recall in centre-midfield ahead of either Ryan Christie or Tyler Adams.

As for Sturm Graz, Gizo Mamageishvili, Nelson Weiper, Otar Kiteishvili, Filip Rozga, Seedy Jatta and Emran Soglo are all in the treatment room with injuries.

Oumar Diakite scored twice against Austria Wien and the Ivory Coast international could be rewarded with a start up front either alongside or in place of Belmin Beganovic.

It remains to be seen whether Ingolitsch will revert to a 3-4-3 formation that was used against Rennes or stick with a familiar four-at-the-back system, which would see Luis Balbo and either Arjan Malic or Jurgen Heil start as full-backs.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert; Adams, Christie; Rayan, Tavernier, Brooks; Evanilson

Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:

Khudyakov; Koller, Vallci, Quarshie; Heil, Weinhandl, Stankovic, Balbo; Hodl, Diakite, Beganovic

We say: Bournemouth 2-1 Sturm Graz

You have to go back to October 1991 for the last time an Austrian side beat an English team in major European competitions (Austria Wien winning 1-0 against Arsenal in the European Cup), and we cannot envisage this lengthy streak ending on Thursday.

Although Bournemouth have endured a difficult start on the domestic front, they impressed for large spells of their Europa League victory over Real Sociedad and should have enough quality in their side to pick up three more points in front of a pumped-up home crowd on the South Coast.

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