Saturday's Premier League programme could get off to a thrilling start when Tottenham return to the scene of their best comeback of last season - the Vitality Stadium — in the lunchtime game.
Last October, Spurs silenced the Cherries support by grabbing a late winner after overturning a two-goal deficit, but Bournemouth got their revenge in April when Dango Outtara's stoppage-time strike sealed a similar 3-2 away win for them.
- Tottenham to win and Both Teams to Score
- Over 3.5 Total Goals
- Pape Matar Sarr to score at anytime
Spurs Can Pick Off Cherries
Tottenham have dominated this fixture in recent years, winning eight of their last 12 league meetings with the Cherries. And, surprisingly, the bulk of their goals did not come from Harry Kane — their record goalscorer accounted for only two of the last 22 Spurs scored against Bournemouth.
Kane has now gone and new manager Ange Postecoglu has implemented some attacking ideas that appear to be working well.
But Spurs still lack the ability to shut the back door and could easily have conceded before they overran Manchester United last weekend, having battled back from 2-1 down to Brentford the weekend before.
Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth's new broom, has not made any sweeping changes to the way the home team look likely to play and that suggests another fun and open contest could be in store on Saturday.
SPURS TO WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
High-Scoring Thriller Expected
Prior to last season's two meetings between the clubs, which both finished 3-2 to the away side, five of the previous ten clashes produced four goals or more.
There seems to be something about these clubs that brings out the best of their attacking instincts and worst of their defensive natures.
Only seven of the 19 Premier League games played so far have seen four or more goals scored, but each of these clubs has already played in one and it certainly will not be their last.
Postecoglu Removed Sarr's Hand Brake
Pape Matar Sarr was arguably the star of Tottenham's win over Manchester United and it was noticeable how much more freedom both he and Yves Bissouma had been given from their positions in the midfield double pivot.
Postecoglu has liberated them both by asking one or other of his team's full backs to tuck in and create, in effect, a 3-2-5 formation when Spurs are attacking.
Sarr, who looks much more suited to those demands than Oliver Skipp, could have had a couple of goals on Saturday and should be rated as a real dangerman in his current form.
The former Metz midfielder was utilised as a defensive shield in Ligue 1 and in the sporadic first-team opportunities he received under Antonio Conte, but Postecoglu has released the hand brake now.
Back in his younger days, Sarr scored three goals in three games when playing for Senegal at Under-17 World Cup in 2019 so he should still have some goals in his locker.
PAPE MATAR SARR TO SCORE ANYTIME
