Before The Whistle: Bournemouth v Fulham

Written by Drew Heatley on 13th April 2025

Strip everything aside, and this is one of the most important games of the season.

Bournemouth sit just three points behind us in 10th. Win, and we double that gap. And given that Aston Villa travel to Southampton, we need to win to keep pace.

Bournemouth are having a tricky time of late, picking up just two points from the last 18 available. But they have a habit of getting up for a game against us, and we’ve not done too well against them in recent years – and we have just one win at the Vitality in 30 years.

It’s unfathomable that Marco Silva will change the XI that upset Liverpool last weekend. That means our starboy, Ryan Sessegnon, is likely to keep his place. I’ve a feeling he’ll play a leading role if we are to achieve our European dreams this term.

Kenny Tete made a welcome return in the latter stages of the game on the weekend. But Castagne put in a decent enough shift to keep that berth. It’d be great to see Kenny get more minutes on the south coast, though.

Our recent win-loss form perhaps doesn’t bode well for this – we’ll want to buck the trend if we’re to keep up in this increasingly tight race for Europe. You Whites.