Newcastle United welcome Bournemouth to St James’ Park this weekend as Eddie Howe faces his former club.
Howe will come up against the Cherries for the first time since he left the south coast side in 2020 following their relegation from the Premier League.
The Magpies boss has seen his side make a good start to the season, however, despite only losing one game so far, they are currently winless in four.
They face Bournemouth this weekend, who are close to being taken over by a Las Vegas-based consortium, according to talkSPORT sources.
Gary O’Neil is currently in interim charge of the club after Scott Parker was sacked last month.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League fixture will take place on Saturday, September 17.
Kick-off at St James’ Park is at 3pm.
talkSPORT 2 will be providing exclusive live coverage of the game with commentary from Ian Danter and former England defender Micky Gray.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: Team news
The hosts hope to welcome back influential trio Bruno Guimaraes, Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson from injury, having had additional time to recover following the Premier League’s recent postponements.
Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope are expected to start after their England call-ups on Thursday.
Bournemouth could have Junior Stanislas back after he returned to training last week.
Midfielders Ben Pearson and Joe Rothwell will both miss out again with their expected return to be after the international break.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: What’s been said?
Interim boss O’Neil is remaining focused on the game amid Bournemouth’s takeover talks.
“Obviously, I’m not involved in any discussions like that. I’ve been hard at work over on the other side, on the grass,” he said.
“Takeovers and discussions of that level are obviously a long way from my mind, and what I’m focused on at the moment, which is Newcastle. It’s going to be a big test.”
“I know it’s going to be boring for you guys, but I’m just fully focused. Literally, every minute of my day is taken up by how we go about Newcastle.
“Pure focus on how we go there, have an impact on the game and come away with a positive result again.”
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: Match facts
- Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke has scored 49 goals in English league football (1 for Liverpool, 48 for Bournemouth). 45 of these strikes have come in his last three seasons (90 appearances), compared to just four in his first three campaigns (63 apps).
- This will be Newcastle boss Eddie Howe’s first ever match in charge against his former club Bournemouth. Howe won both games against Burnley in the Premier League last season (the only other side he’s managed), as many as he had in his previous 10 against his former employers (D2 L6).
- Only Nottingham Forest (42) have faced more shots on target than Newcastle in the Premier League this season (36). However, the Magpies have conceded just six goals, with their 17% of shots on target faced going in, the lowest percentage in the division.
- Bournemouth have had just 34 shots in the Premier League this season, at least 22 fewer than any other side so far. They’ve also had a league-low 12 efforts on target, but have the third-highest shot conversion rate of 14.7%.
- Bournemouth have conceded 18 goals in their six Premier League games this season – the joint-most at this stage by any side in the competition’s history. Four sides have conceded as many as 20 in their opening seven Premier League games – Derby in 2007-08 (20), Bolton in 2011-12 (21), Southampton in 2012-13 (20) and Watford in 2019-20 (20).
- Newcastle have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League home games (W8 D4), going down 1-0 against Liverpool in April. They’ve only conceded more than one goal in one of those 13 games, doing so in their 3-3 draw with Manchester City last month.
- Newcastle have lost just one of their last eight Premier League games (W3 D4), a 2-1 loss to Liverpool last month. However, the Magpies are currently also winless in five league matches (D4 L1).
- Newcastle have won their last three Premier League games against promoted sides, their longest such run since a run of seven between October 2013 and November 2014.
- After failing to score in their first Premier League meeting with Newcastle, Bournemouth have found the net in each of their last seven against them. However, they’ve only kept one clean sheet in their eight top-flight meetings with the Magpies.
- Newcastle have lost just two of their eight Premier League meetings with Bournemouth (W4 D2), though both of those defeats came at St James’ Park (March 2016, November 2017).
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