Preview: Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

For the second time in the space of two Premier League matchweeks, the Vitality Stadium welcomes a North London powerhouse, as Bournemouth host Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.

Andoni Iraola's men came out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller with Arsenal in gameweek 20, while the Lilywhites were held to a painful home draw by Sunderland over the weekend.

Match preview

Seventh heaven for Arsenal, 11th hell for Bournemouth, whose appalling winless run in the top flight stretched further into the double figures despite a valiant effort against the league leaders, who initially went behind to an Evanilson effort.

However, Gabriel Magalhaes's redemption strike and Declan Rice's brace put Arsenal firmly in control, before Eli Junior Kroupi's fabulous finish proved to be little more than mere consolation for the soon-to-be apoplectic Cherries.

Bournemouth understandably took issue with Chris Kavanagh blowing his full-time whistle as they were about to send the ball into the box, but even if that chance had led to a leveller, it would have made no difference to their worrying winless sequence.

Eleven games without a win is Bournemouth's longest-ever in a single top-flight season, but thanks to the dismal results of the bottom three, the 15th-placed hosts are still closer to the top five points-wise than they are the relegation zone.

Furthermore, four of Bournemouth's five top-flight successes so far in 2025-26 have come at their Vitality Stadium home, but Iraola's men now welcome a visiting side who could regain their status as the Premier League's best away team.

Only Arsenal (20 points) have out-performed Spurs (18) on the road in the 2025-26 top flight, and with the Gunners hosting Liverpool on Thursday night, victory for the Lilywhites will see them reclaim their away perch on the South Coast.

That will certainly be easier said than done in spite of Bournemouth's struggles, though, as Thomas Frank's men are still flattering to deceive in these harsh winter months and dropped two points in excruciating fashion against newly-promoted Sunderland.

Brian Brobbey's rocket cancelled out Ben Davies's opener in a 1-1 stalemate, although the Black Cats have also taken points off of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City this season, so Sunday's result was not of the nightmarish variety for Frank.

That will come as little comfort to the Tottenham supporters who see their side languish in 13th place in the overall table, though, and from their last 11 Premier League matches home and away, the Lilywhites have come up trumps in just two of them.

On the plus side, the visitors are on the hunt for their third consecutive Premier League away clean sheet - not since April 2022 have they managed that feat - but Bournemouth's 1-0 win in August means that the Cherries could now complete their first-ever double over their North London counterparts.

Bournemouth Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Team News

Long-serving Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook returned from a neck injury to come off the bench against the Gunners, a timely comeback given that Justin Kluivert is now set for a long spell on the sidelines following knee surgery.

Tyler Adams (knee), Ben Gannon-Doak (thigh), Ryan Christie (knee), Matai Akinmboni (muscle) and Will Dennis (ankle) are also absent for the hosts - the latter's injury triggered the signing of ex-Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster as a free agent - but the young Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) is back in training.

With his £65m move to Manchester City yet to go through, Antoine Semenyo is expected to be at Iraola's disposal once again, for what is expected to be his final home appearance in a red and black jersey.

Semenyo will likely not be squaring up to compatriot Mohammed Kudus, though, as the Spurs winger sustained a thigh injury in the first half of the draw with Sunderland and will surely take his place on the sidelines this week.

Kudus is one of six absent Spurs men at present alongside Yves Bissouma (AFCON), Pape Sarr (AFCON), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), James Maddison (knee) and Dominic Solanke (ankle), but Destiny Udogie (thigh) is training again, and Xavi Simons is at back from a three-match suspension.

The Dutchman will almost certainly be restored to the first XI in place of the stricken Kudus, while Lucas Bergvall could also earn a spot in the XI after Wilson Odobert took a whack to the face over the weekend.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Cook, Scott; Semenyo, Tavernier, Brooks; Evanilson

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Spence, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies; Gray, Bentancur; Simons, Bergvall, Tel; Richarlison

We say: Bournemouth 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

History suggests that Spurs must score twice to stand a chance of succeeding on Wednesday; they have prevailed in their four away games at Bournemouth in which they have netted two goals or more, but failed to win the other four when they have scored one or fewer.

The latter scenario appears more likely this week amid Frank's creative injury crisis, but Spurs have added a layer of defensive steel away from home and should be good enough for a point against a struggling Cherries outfit.

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