In their final home game of the season, seasiders Bournemouth welcome West London outfit Brentford to the Vitality Stadium, hoping to give their home fans a nice send-off to a productive season.
The two sides come into tomorrow’s game in a similar vein of form with Brentford gaining eight points from the last five game and Bournemouth with seven points from their last five, respectively.
Brentford’s recent uptake in form has seen them secure their Premier League status for a third season in a row in what has turned out to be a long, tough season for the Bees.
Bournemouth head into the game with first-team players Luis Sinisterra and Chris Mepham out through injury but there are returns for Marcus Tavernier, Tyler Adams and Lloyd Kelly, in what would be his final game for Bournemouth at the Vitality. Milos Kerkez will also miss the game through suspension after his red card against Wolves.
Brentford will also be without some key squad members like Ben Mee, Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey. Late fitness tests are scheduled for both Kristoffer Ajer and Mathias Jensen, who are hopeful of playing a part in the game.
The last time the teams met was in the early stages of the season when they played out a 2-2 draw with Bryan Mbeumo scoring a late equaliser to save a point for Brentford after David Brooks put Bournemouth ahead in the 77th minute.
Fans will be hoping for another action-packed match tomorrow and not an end-of-season damp squib.
Solanke vs Toney
The season has seen much speculation over who Gareth Southgate should name in his final EUROs squad this summer and no position has been talked about more than the strikers.
Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins are expected to travel to Germany but much debate has been had over whether Dominic Solanke or Ivan Toney deserve a place too, setting up tomorrow’s game nicely.
Dom Solanke has been in fine form this season scoring 18 goals in 36 games, becoming Bournemouth’s highest ever scorer in a single Premier League season, beating Josh King’s previous record of 16 goals in the 2016-17 season.
On the other hand, a lengthy eight-month suspension for Ivan Toney has hampered his season with just four goals to his name in fifteen appearances, significantly down from the 20 goals he scored for Brentford last season.
Both players arguably have very similar styles of play in their work rate, positioning, link-ups and hold-up play. Toney has often been quoted as being the better natural finisher and stronger in the air but Solanke’s extraordinary goal-scoring season and Toney’s absence has seen the debate open up.
The game tomorrow is expected to continue this hot conversation, as we await to see how the strikers fare against the opposing team’s defenders.
Bournemouth and Brentford fans will both be hoping that it is their main man who shines tomorrow with few opportunities left to impress the England manager ahead of his 26-man EUROs squad announcement just two days after the final league game of the season.
Points dropped from winning positions
The teams come into the game holding first and second place in the division for most points dropped from winning positions.
Bournemouth find themselves second in this category having lost a significant 27 points from winning positions. Amazingly, the Cherries have been ahead 24 times so far this season against the likes of Aston Villa, Luton Town, Wolves and even Brentford but have failed to hold onto leads against all of these sides in at least one of the two fixtures.
But, astonishingly, Brentford find themselves in a worse position and top of the leader board with 30 points lost from winning positions and with 21 leads throughout the season.
These terrible stats should provide some relief to both sets of supporters that even if their side does go a goal down, there is every hope the leading team will relinquish their advantage at any minute, drawing the game level.
A season to remember and a season to forget
The final month of games is often a time to reflect on the season as a whole before turning attention to the next.
For Bournemouth, after a tough start with no wins in the first nine games, they have gone on to achieve a record points tally and are vying to equal their highest ever Premier League position of ninth.
Their manager, Andoni Iraola, was recently nominated for the Manager of the Season award in his debut season for the club and in the league - a remarkable achievement for the Basque manager, who currently sits in tenth place with his team.
Bournemouth fans will be looking to finish their amazing season with a win in the final home game of the season against a Brentford side who have not had it easy this year to say the least.
Injuries and suspensions to key players, and an inability to defend leads has led to a less-than memorable season for the Bees, who have impressed in their last two Premier League campaigns.
Sitting 16th in the table, Brentford can only leapfrog Everton, one place above them if they win their last two games of the season, so finishing the season strong is less about league positions and points tallies, and more about giving their traveling fans something to cheer about going into the summer.
