Overview
A week after the convincing victory over league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates, Andoni Iraola continued his journey to say goodbye to Bournemouth with a 2-1 victory at Newcastle United's stadium, with goals from Marcus Tavernier and Adrien Truffert.
This result helps Bournemouth extend their record unbeaten streak in the Premier League to 13 (6 wins, 7 draws), and rise to eighth place. They are currently tied in points with Chelsea and Brentford, and only 3 points behind Fulham in the competitive European race.
In the context that the team is determined to give Iraola a complete farewell with a ticket to the European Cup for the first time in history, Bournemouth has also announced a successor, Marco Rose, under a 3-year contract, starting next summer.
In the immediate future, Iraola and his students need to avoid their fifth consecutive draw at home in the Premier League. History shows that they have drawn more than that in 1962 and 1967, but currently, the pressure to improve home record is very clear.
However, Bournemouth cannot be subjective when facing newly promoted teams. They have not won any matches against this group of opponents this season (4 draws, 1 loss), and have a fairly low winning rate when facing Leeds in the past.
In the opposite direction, Leeds United is experiencing a very positive April. Daniel Farke's team not only reached the FA Cup semi-finals but also had two consecutive Premier League wins against Manchester United and Wolves, thereby creating an 8-point gap with the relegation group when the season is only 5 rounds away.
The recent 3-0 victory over Wolves shows a clear improvement of Leeds. Notably, Farke has never lost to Bournemouth in the Premier League after three previous encounters.
Although the overall away record is not high, Leeds is unbeaten in their last five Premier League away games (1 win 4 draws), while extending their unbeaten streak away from home in all competitions to 8 matches.
In their last trip to Vitality Stadium, Leeds lost heavily 1-4, but with their current form, they have every reason to aim for a more positive result in this rematch.
Personnel situation
Bournemouth continues to face difficulties in terms of force when Justin Kluivert and Lewis Cook are both absent due to injury, while Julio Soler's ability to play is still uncertain. In that context, Iraola is likely to maintain the framework that has helped the team maintain an impressive performance cord recently.
On the other side, Leeds United also does not have the strongest force. Anton Stach is definitely absent, and Daniel James still needs more time to recover and cannot return. However, Joe Rodon is ready to compete for a starting spot in the defense after returning from injury.
Expected lineup:
Petrovic, Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert, Christie, Scott, Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier, Evanilson.
Leeds United: Darlow, Justin, Bijol, Struijk, Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson, Aaronson, Okafor, Calvert-Lewin.
The match between Bournemouth and Leeds United takes place at 2:00 AM on April 23rd (Vietnam time).
