Everton vs Bournemouth Preview: Cherries and Toffees look to get back on track

In what could be expected to be a grudge game for the visitors, Bournemouth will head to the Goodison Park to lock horns with Ronald Koeman's floundering Everton side on Saturday evening.

While the Cherries did pick up all three points from the Toffees' visit to the Vitality Stadium last season, they were at the receiving end of a 6-3 hammering at the hands of the men from Merseyside when they visited the Goodison later in the season. This will only be the sixth meeting between the two sides since Bournemouth came to the Premier League, with the Cherries winning only one out of them in all competions.

Toffees look for revitalization

The start to the season has been a bit unexpected for Ronald Koeman's side, as the recent losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have left them reeling inside the bottom three of the Premier League. And all that has happened despite the club spending over £142.38 million this past summer.

The absence of a proper number nine was felt during the loss at Old Trafford and the very fact that their former striker Romelu Lukaku has scored more goals than their whole side is an embarrassing stat. They've scored only two goals in the Premier League, the second lowest in the division after rock bottom Crystal Palace. Those two goals have been scored by Wayne Rooney, who was brought back from Manchester United this past summer. The need more Dominic Calvert-Lewin is being felt and he could start on Saturday.

They have conceded the most number of goals in the league- 10, tied with West Ham at the bottom. The goals they conceded against Spurs and United have made their tally all the more worse and Ronald Koeman is under palpable pressure, as he heads into a game that his side can't afford to lose.

Cherries look to build on

After having endured a disappointing start to the campaign, Bournemouth picked up all three points in a comeback win over Brighton to finally kickstart their campaign. The recent 1-0 win over the same opposition is likely to provide them more impetus to climb up the Premier League table once again.

The losses to Manchester City and Arsenal should not be too much of a concern for a side that will look to finish in the upper half of the table once again and facing a side like Everton would provide them the opportunity to prove that they can beat sides who finished around them in the table last season.

They have picked up only one point more than their Saturday's opponents, scoring one more goal than them and letting in one less too. Despite that, they haven’t looked at their best in not just scoring and defending, but in terms of retaining their style as well. Eddie Howe has emphasized on how they must focus on the fundamentals of the style to get things back on track and the game will allow them the chance to do so.

No fresh concerns for Everton

Everton will still have the likes of Yannick Bolasie, Ross Barkley, Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman out, but they don’t have any fresh injury concerns ahead of the home game against the Cherries. Dom Calvert-Lewin though, can start.

As far as the Cherries are concerned, Junior Stanislas will be pushing for a recovery after he returned to action in the Carabao Cup game against Brighton. Apart from that, Bournemouth have no injury concerns heading into the trip to the Goodison.