AFC Bournemouth v Watford

billythekid

billythekid

UTC Legend
I see they have Christian Kabasele missing for this game after picking up a red. They will miss him. Also out also after picking up a red card is Roberto Pereyra.
 
Pereryra yes but i thought Kabasele served his red card v tranmere as red cards count across all competitions, unlike yellows?
 
Watford are in great form, will be well motivated playing us, and will play some nice football given some of the technical players in their ranks.
It will be a tough game, but we usually raise our game for good opposition. Right now Watford are very good opposition.
Also our crowd should be in the mood.
 
This is a key match for us. Win it and we improve our confidence and hopefully lift ourselves up above the relegation zone. Lose, and Watford move ahead of us, leaving us deep in trouble.
 
Hopefully our wing players will have gained some confidence and will be braver and more decisive from here on in. I remember an instance in the Luton game where Rico received the ball on his wing, just beyond the halfway line. As soon as he got the ball down he bombed down the wing, kept going to near the byline and without any faffing about, once he got there, he immediately whipped a cross into the box. It was great to see that level of decisiveness in our attack. No faffing about, beat your man, get to the byline and put the ball into the box. I hope we see a lot more of that moving forwards. Add in some more goals now coming from midfield and we could get back to scoring hatfuls. The big question is, will we have the confidence to be that brave against PL opposition ? I sincerely hope so, otherwise we will almost certainly revert back to passing sideways and backwards thereby losing all pace in our attack. Come on lads ! Be brave ! Play with some swagger and get at them !
:utc:
 
Eddie will have some interesting selection decisions to make. Surman looked very solid and also showed strong leadership pulling the lads together after the first goals. I think he deserves a spot. Not sure how a partnership with Lerma would work. Having Ake and Smitty at his disposal also gives Eddie loads of choice, although I suspect he will not look for 90 minutes from them.

We know how big this one is for both sides, anything less than 3 points would be disappointing. I hope that there is confidence in the room, and an early goal would be most welcomed.
 
-------------Ramsdale-------------
Francis---S. Cook--Mepham---Rico
-----Billing---Lerma---Surman-----
H. Wilson-------Wilson-------Fraser

Subs: Boruc, Simpson, Stanislas, Gosling, L. Cook, Solanke, Surridge

I think that's a fair lineup, based on recent performances and being extremely conservative on who may or may not be back for the game. Surman might not be very mobile, but Lerma will make up for this, and he is a calm and accurate passer, which is something we've missed. Francis at RB is a massive worry against the likes of Sarr and Deolofeu, but we don't really have much of a choice; I don't think 3 at the back is right for this game personally, and even then they'd still be able to run behind him quite easily. Hopefully we've worked on this.

Billing and H. Wilson barely sneak in on the grounds that they look to be playing themselves back into a bit of form. Don't think Stanislas is quite there yet, looks a bit rusty, and Gosling for all his qualities isn't nearly as technically good, or as good a passer as Billing IMO. H. Wilson in a front 3 would have less defensive responsibility and would find himself in dangerous positions more often in theory. A confident Callum Wilson is an England international, so he will always get the nod.

We come into this game with a rest period, on the back of a comfortable 4-0 win, with several key players like Ake, Smith and Danjuma maybe ready for a return as well. Can't use the injuries as an excuse for this one, we have more than enough dynamics in attack (3 strikers, 3 wingers who all have different attributes) to score, and these defenders have proven themselves to be good enough, even as depleted as they are. If we put in a poor performance here it's entirely on the players and how they've been set up for the game.
 
Ramsdale

Smith (reckon he will be back)..if not then Francis
S Cook
Mepham
Rico

H Wilson
Lerma
Surman
Fraser

C Wilson
Solanke

Snubs:
Boruc / Billing / L Cook / Stanislas / Surridge / Francis (or Simpson) / Gosling
 
Ok... So I agree Surman had a great game on Saturday... Looked very composed on the ball and probably should have been given MOM...

But... We can’t ignore the opposition in front of him... An in form Watford will be a very different proposition to effectively a Lg1 quality Luton reserve side...

IMO the midfield should be 2 from Lerma/L.Cook/Billing/Gosling with H.Wilson sitting just in front
 
Kabasele is still banned which isn't great news - Pereyra on current form won't be a loss really. We do seem to pick up injuries as much as you do! Done well despite having 10 men in recent games albeit those games were at home. Usually a draw isn't it - going to predict another one which probably isn't ideal for either side!
 
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