Bournemouth eager to extend five-game unbeaten PL run as Fulham visits.
After successive draws, the Cherries take on the Cottagers, hoping to extend a five-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. Bournemouth vs. Fulham kicks off at 20:00 [GMT+1] on Friday, October 3, at the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth [WWWDD] are coming off back-to-back successive draws following last weekend’s 2-2 draw with newly promoted Leeds United. “It’s a long old season; we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves just yet. But we take a point and move onto Friday,” goal scorer Antoine Semenyo said following the draw. They welcome Fulham to the south coast in buoyant mood, with Andoni Iraola’s side enjoying their best-ever start to a Premier League campaign. Eleven points from six games sets the Cherries up nicely, with home form particularly encouraging. The history between these clubs leans heavily in Bournemouth’s favour. They have lost only two of the last 16 league meetings with the Cottagers, taking eight victories and six draws in that span. Even more telling, Fulham have only managed one win in the last eight clashes, a 3-1 home success in February 2024. On the south coast, however, Bournemouth have dominated, winning their last three home games against Fulham. The opportunity to make that four in a row presents itself here. Bournemouth’s recent improvement owes much to defensive organisation and a sharper edge in attack. After losing four consecutive home games earlier in 2024, they have since stabilised, collecting 14 points from seven matches at the Vitality (W4 D2 L1) and recording four clean sheets. It’s a trend the 6th-placed side would be keen to extend when they make their appearance on Friday against the Cottagers. Evanilson is expected at the attacking end of Bournemouth’s 4—2—3—1 formation.
Fulham [2W, 2D, 2L] sits in 11th place ahead of their trip to Bournemouth, having lost two of their last four PL games [DLWWL]. However, they arrive looking to address their travel sickness, having lost three successive visits to the Vitality Stadium and slipping into a pattern of inconsistency. Fulham’s difficulties stem from an inability to protect leads. They scored first away at Aston Villa last weekend but still collapsed to a 3-1 defeat. In fact, Marco Silva’s side have now lost four of their last seven league matches when opening the scoring – no team has a worse record in that department over the past two seasons. It remains a source of concern for Marco Silva ahead of Friday’s showdown. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Raúl Jiménez in attack may be seen once again. Lewis Cook and Adam Smith remain on the treatment table.