Bournemouth seek to rectify poor form against Huddersfield

Bournemouth and Huddersfield meet at The Vitality on Tuesday night as the home side look to end a run of poor form against David Wagner’s side.

Eddie Howe has now gone four Premier League games without a win, losing all of them in the process. The fixture list has not been kind to the Cherries, with three of those losses coming against Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City.

But the south coast side have ambitions of European football this season after a blistering start, and with seven Premier League games in December alone, it is a key time in the season for all clubs involved.

Huddersfield come into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion, striker Steven Mounie was sent off in the clash and recently had the appeal rejected. Prior to that result the Yorkshire side began to pick up some points, with wins over Wolves and Fulham sandwiching a draw with West Ham.

Bournemouth will be without Adam Smith for this game, the defender has knee cartilage damage and is expected to be out well into the new year, whilst midfielder Dan Gosling has been sent for a scan on a knee injury, which could see him suffer an extended period on the sidelines.

Huddersfield also have just the two injury concerns ahead of this clash, most notably Alex Pritchard, who has picked up a knock and is a doubt for the game on Tuesday night. A late fitness test will determine if the playmaker can take any part in the match. Chris Lowe will miss the game against Bournemouth, the left back has a shoulder injury, although he may return for the weekends game against Arsenal.

These sides met in the Premier League last season, with both fixtures conjuring plenty of goals. Bournemouth thumped Huddersfield 4-0 at home whilst the Terriers exacted their recent later in the season with a 4-1 win on their own turf.

If Bournemouth are to rectify their poor form, Callum Wilson will need to show the kind of goalscoring prowess which saw him earn an England call up, whilst Josh King may finally have got rid of the rustiness after a spell on the sidelines.

Huddersfield will be without the suspended Mounie so Belgian forward Laurent Delpoitre will be expected to lead the line and pose a threat to the Bournemouth defence.

Both sides need a win, but home advantage should count for Bournemouth in a game where their quality is superior to that of Huddersfield.