All eyes will be on the south coast of England on Sunday! It is a big day for football fans on the south coast as they will be divided into two halves when Bournemouth take on Southampton in the South Coast Derby. Traditionally, Portsmouth vs Southampton used to be the biggest South Coast derby but with the Pompey being absent from the top tier for a long time now, this has become the biggest footballing event on the south coast.
The two teams are very closely placed in the table, in fact, sharing the same number of points after 16 gameweeks. However, Bournemouth have certainly been the more entertaining between the two teams this season. All Eddie Howe’s side need is consistency.
They made a late comeback to win against Liverpool 4-3 but lost 3-2 to Burnley in the following fixture. However, after beating the Premier League holders Leicester City 1-0 in the midweek, the Cherries won’t be short of confidence when they approach the game.
Southampton are a solid team when it comes to defending but have lacked that spark attacking wise. Bournemouth, on the other hand, have hardly struggled for goals this campaign. So, this game has all the ingredients to be a cracker. Here is the predicted Bournemouth lineup against Southampton.
Defence
Artur Boruc will keep his place under the bar against his former club. Eddie Howe is unlikely to make any alterations to the back four that saw the Cherries beat Leicester City keeping a clean sheet in the process.
Skipper Simon Francis will start at right-back. In-form Steve Cook and Nathan Ake will start at the heart of the defence. Charlie Daniels will start at left-back and will be looking to create havoc with his attacking forays.
Midfield
Harry Arter has certainly been one of the most influential midfielders in the Premier League this season. The energetic and hard-working midfielder will start at the heart of Bournemouth midfield alongside loanee Jack Wilshere who is having a pretty decent loan spell away from Arsenal.
A right-back by trade, Adam Smith, will start on the right flank. Marc Pugh scored the only goal against Leicester City to give his side all three points and should keep his place on the left flank.
Attack
Joshua King will start as the withdrawal forward against Southampton just behind former Arsenal forward Benik Afobe. Callum Wilson’s injury gives Afobe an opportunity to make his mark and we have to see how he does.
