Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter is a doubt to face Swansea after suffering an Achilles injury.
Winger Junior Stanislas will miss his third successive game because of a hamstring problem.
Swansea head coach Francesco Guidolin is still recovering from a chest infection so Alan Curtis will again take charge.
Leroy Fer could be recalled, having impressed as a substitute last week, and Jefferson Montero might return.
Editor’s Note: Bournemouth vs Swansea isn’t quite the relegation 6 pointer that it could have been a few weeks ago and that’s thanks to the respective good run of form from either side. That said neither side will be taking this game lightly as one more win and it will be just about job done in terms of reaching their objective of survival.
For Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth they currently find themselves in the relative comfort of 14th and that’s thanks to a run of 3 games unbeaten with the last two matches resulting in victories. Last Saturday they won at St James Park in which turned out to be the death knell for Steve McClaren as he was sacked on Friday Afternoon.
Even when Bournemouth have gone a spell without a win there’s never been any lack of confidence or state of crisis. There’s always been a belief that results will come round the corner and they have been seemingly been rewarded for that positivity with what should be a second consecutive season of Premier League football.
Another team that has been rewarded are Swansea. When Garry Monk was sacked they took their time in naming a replacement and it’s fair to say that the appointment of Alan Curtis until the end of the season raised some eyebrows. With many thinking it might not have been the right appointment.
There was a small and quick uplift in results but that new Manager effect soon wore off and credit to Chairman Huw Jenkins he identified that their needed to be a change of managerial personnel. Enter Francesco Guidolin. The appointment of the Italian Coach has seemed to be a very astute one with the Swans now finding themselves in 16th position.
Not only that but they have a 9 point buffer over the dropzone thanks to their win over Norwich last Saturday in what was a 6-pointer. The win has given Swansea breathing space while it has put Norwich right amongst the 3 teams trying to not to fill the 2 other relegation slots.
It was a late winner for Swansea with Gylfi Sigurdsson popping up with a late winner to cause more dispair for Alex Neil’s Norwich. That despair isn’t Swansea’s concern though and they are focusing on their own job in hand.
This will be a game that neither side wants to lose and I have a feeling they may cancel each other out. A draw certainly wouldn’t be the worst result for either side as it would push them both closer to the magical 40 point target and assumed safety. A draw for me.
