AFC Bournemouth travel to the capital to face West Ham United this evening. The Cherries are looking to make it seven games unbeaten however the Hammers are in good form at the moment with just one loss in their last seven. These are our main talking points ahead of the game:
Potential record breaker Rayan
Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their last six league games, including wins over Liverpool and Aston Villa. Manager Andoni Iraola has got the Cherries back in a great run of form after the winless run they ended the year with, all while struggling with numerous injuries to key players. One player who has helped the team massively in these last few games is January signing, Rayan.
The young Brazilian has two goals and an assist in his first three games for the Cherries, putting him on the verge of making Premier League history. If he was to register a goal involvement against West Ham, he would become the first teenager to ever register a goal involvement in each of their first four games in the competition.
Injury returnees
Several first team players are trickling back into the squad ahead of this evening’s game. David Brooks missed four games in January before returning against Everton, for a brief ten minute cameo. Tyler Adams was also on the bench for that game, and hasn’t featured in the last 11 games because of an MCL injury he picked up in the Cherries’ 4-4 draw with Manchester United in December. The team have had ten days to recover after the Everton game so both should be ready to feature this evening.
Iraola said: “He travelled the other day but was not ready to play. He’s had a good ten day break and I think he’s ready to go. It’s probably risky to start him but I think he could.”
The boss also mentioned that Marcus Tavernier is back in training with the squad after his injury. Iraola was unsure if he will play against West Ham but said if he doesn’t, he will definitely be back for the next game against Sunderland.
West Ham’s resurgence
After a tough first few months with the Hammers, the club stuck by manager Nuno Espirito Santo and now are on a run that sees them only having lost once in their last seven. Winger, Crysencio Summerville, has been crucial to this form, scoring six goals in his last seven games. Iraola has never beaten the Hammers and has drawn all five league games against them. Iraola said: “I feel we normally play quite well against West Ham but they always find a way of punishing us. They have very good players offensively and now they are probably in their best moment of the season.”
Truffert among the assists
Recently Andoni Iraola had said that although he was pleased with Adrien Truffert’s consistency, he would like him to start adding more assists to his game. The left back leads the Premier League in overlapping runs made and Iraola wants him to start taking advantage of those chances created. Truffert took on that advice quickly, assisting Rayan for the Cherries’ first goal against Everton. Iraola said: “I didn’t expect it [so quickly], especially with his right foot, but it was an incredible cross.
“We want to keep the repeated effort that he makes, but he has to add numbers, and we have to benefit more from all that effort. He has to choose the better moment to cross or not to cross every time. He has to add a little bit more composure when he arrives, because he arrives a lot of time.”
The game kicks off at 5:30pm this evening at the London Stadium.