AFC Bournemouth travel to London on Thursday as they take on West Ham United in the 19:30 kick-off, at the London Stadium.
The Cherries will be looking to continue their strong run of form as they bid to climb towards the top half of the table by the weekend. Bournemouth have only lost twice since the start of November, to Tottenham and Liverpool, showing just how strong their current run of form is.
Last time out, Bournemouth swept Swansea aside 5-0 in the FA Cup, but they will be wanting to put right the 4-0 loss to Liverpool they suffered when they were last in Premier League action.
Their opponents, West Ham, have enjoyed a strong season so far, currently sitting 6th in the Premier League. They are, however, winless in their last three matches and therefore Bournemouth will feel they are there for the taking on Thursday night.
Bournemouth manager, Andoni Iraola, sat down with the media, including Nerve Sport, on Wednesday afternoon to preview the clash.
On the injury front, Iraola confirmed that Adam Smith will be back as part of the squad after training recently. Other than that, all is the same as the other day with no new injuries. James Hill is expected to be out for around six weeks but “knowing Hill if he can be back within four weeks he will be” said Iraola.
One boost for Bournemouth is that Semenyo is back and fully available after AFCON ended in disappointment for him and Ghana. Semenyo has established himself as a key player under Iraola and the manager will be delighted to have him back available.
Iraola hopes to have Dango Ouattara available for the Nottingham Forest game at the weekend.
One name that has been subject to rumour in the last 24 hours, is Dominic Solanke, with some outlets reporting Tottenham are considering a £50 million bid for the striker. Iraola was asked for comment on this and said he doesn’t expect anything to happen with Solanke and he has no news on the subject.
Philip Billing has been crucial in the Bournemouth side for many years but has found minutes hard to come by recently. Asked on comment on the midfielder, and any possibility of him leaving the club, Iraola responded: “
Iraola emphasised the importance of his team scoring first given the danger West Ham pose. The impact Kalvin Phillips could have was emphasised, and Iraola was full of praise for David Moyes’ team.
Philip Billing will be travelling with the squad despite a lack of game time recently and Fredericks remains out for an unspecified time.
West Ham United vs AFC Bournemouth kicks off at 19:30 pm tomorrow, live from the London Stadium.