Preview: Bournemouth vs Everton - prediction, team news, lineups

Everton will endeavour to make it three wins out of three in all competitions when they travel to the Vitality Stadium to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams experienced contrasting results on matchday one in the top flight, with the Cherries losing at Man City and the Toffees beating Crystal Palace on Merseyside.

Match preview

Bournemouth’s club-record 18-game unbeaten league run was cruelly snapped on the opening weekend of the new campaign, as they surrendered a late lead to suffer a 2-1 defeat at Man City in Marco Rose’s first match in charge of the club.

Marcus Tavernier’s well-worked first-half strike looked set to hand the German coach a dream debut at the Etihad Stadium, only for the Citizens to strike twice in the final six minutes to snatch all three points. Rose later admitted that "in the end maybe it was a question of power" as the hosts’ relentless late pressure finally breached his backline that momentarily switched off in the dying embers.

Despite the gut-wrenching nature of the result, Rose has seen plenty to encourage him from a match they were not favourites for, and he is keen to “work on details” with his squad as they seek to avoid losing back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since November and December 2025.

Bournemouth will take comfort from their impressive record against Everton, winning nine of their last 12 meetings across all competitions. The Cherries have also won more top-flight matches against the Toffees than they have versus any other opponent (nine), while only against Fulham (60%) do they boast a higher win rate among teams they have played at least 10 times in the division (50%).

However, Bournemouth head into Saturday’s contest having won only three of their last 14 PL games at the Vitality Stadium (D9 L2) and suffered a slender 1-0 home defeat to Everton in December of last season, courtesy of a late goal from Jack Grealish.

After ending the 2025-26 campaign in disappointing fashion, failing to win any of their final seven league games and slipping out of European contention, Everton have made a bright start to the new season, winning their opening two matches without reply.

The Toffees claimed a 2-0 home win over a wasteful Crystal Palace outfit in the Premier League last weekend, before easing to a 4-0 away victory over David Moyes’s former side Preston North End in the EFL Cup on Wednesday. The Toffees have since been rewarded with a third-round home tie against Wolves.

Attention now turns back to the Premier League, with Everton seeking to start a top-flight campaign with successive victories for the first time since the 2020-21 season when the Toffees won their first four matches under former boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The Merseysiders will be keen to improve their early-season away record, having lost their opening away fixture in each of the last four Premier League campaigns, failing to find the net in the last three of those. Only from 1955-56 to 1961-62 have they ever suffered defeat in their first away match in more consecutive league seasons (seven).

Everton have also prevailed in only one of their nine Premier League visits to the Vitality Stadium (D2 L6), but that solitary victory did come in the aforementioned corresponding fixture nine months ago; they have never won back-to-back matches away against Bournemouth across all competitions in their history.

Bournemouth Premier League form:

Bournemouth form (all competitions):

Everton Premier League form:

Everton form (all competitions):

Team News

Bournemouth quartet Eli Junior Kroupi (foot), Amine Adli (calf), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Julian Araujo (thigh) all remain out with injuries, but Ryan Christie is available for selection after serving a suspension.

The Cherries recently completed the signing of goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio on loan from Juventus, but Djordje Petrovic is expected to remain as the club's first-choice shot-stopper.

In-demand Alex Scott, who Rose is “120% sure” will stay despite transfer speculation, is likely to continue in midfield alongside Lewis Cook, while Rayan, Justin Kluivert and Tavenier are all set to link up with Evanilson in attack.

As for Everton, Tim Iroegbunam is ruled out for several with an adductor strain, while fellow midfielders and summer signings Hayden Hackney (knock) and Christian Norgaard (unspecified) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

James Garner started his first game for the Toffees in midweek since undergoing a hernia operation in the summer, and the midfielder could be ready to start again on Saturday, while Merlin Rohl and Harrison Armstrong are other central options at Moyes’ disposal.

Another is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who is set to continue in the number 10 role; no Everton player has scored more PL goals since the start of last season that the 27-year-old (nine).

Thierno Barry has made an electric start to the new campaign, scoring four goals in just two games including a hat-trick against Preston. The Frenchman is therefore expected to lead the line again and could be supported in attack by Iliman Ndiaye, despite recent speculation surrounding his future.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert; Cook, Scott; Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evalinson

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Hackney; George, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Barry

We say: Bournemouth 1-1 Everton

Boasting a formidable recent head-to-head record against Everton, Bournemouth will expect a raucous and motivating reception from the Vitality Stadium faithful as new boss Rose leads his side out for their first home match of the campaign.

However, the visiting Merseysiders travel south in incredibly high spirits after a positive opening week, and while both managers will firmly back their respective teams to claim maximum points, a tightly-contested affair culminating in a score draw feels like the most probable outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.