Tuesday’s stalemate on the south coast was a good one for those invested in Bournemouth and/or Brentford defenders.

This was only the Premier League’s third goalless draw in the last seven Gameweeks. The Cherries have been involved in two of them.

As for owners of the attackers on show, plenty of frustration.

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TAVERNIER UNLUCKY… OR MORE POOR FINISHING?

If you saw our Scoreboard article, you will have seen that Marcus Tavernier (£5.3m) finished Gameweek 29 with twice the non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI, 1.47 – adjusted from am initial 1.51) as anyone else managed on Tuesday night.

No one had more shots in the box (five) or big chances (two).

Above: Players involved in Bournemouth v Brentford sorted by goal attempts (five)

It was bemusing how he blanked. Twice he hit the woodwork, once from eight yards and another from a wider position. In the first instance, he had his calf clipped and had legitimate claims for a penalty – which he likely would have taken.

He also curled just off target early on, forced a save from a narrow angle and very nearly diverted Ryan Christie‘s (£4.9m) effort in from 12 yards.

The near-misses didn’t end there. In stoppage time, Tavernier supplied substitute Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.7m) with a good chance, only for Enes Unal (£5.4m) to inadvertently deflect a goalbound shot wide.

A hard-luck story here, then, but as Sir Michael Taker excellently points out, his finishing tends not to be a strong suit. He’s scored one open-play goal all season (two penalties, one direct corner and a free-kick!) and has underachieved on the xG front in each of the last three campaigns.

Still, for £5.3m, you’re getting a probable penalty taker (so long as Justin Kluivert £7.0m) remains out), a semi-frequent corner taker and a direct free-kick taker. He’s also, in the post-Semenyo era, the securest route into the Bournemouth attack.

BOURNEMOUTH DOMINATE, KROUPI BENCHED

The Cherries stretched their unbeaten run to nine matches but will be irked that this wasn’t a win.

They dominated proceedings and even aside from the chances involving Tavernier, there were further openings.

Christie should have scored when he attempted to tiptoe around Caoimhim Kelleher (£4.7m), while James Hill (£4.1m) nodded over a very good chance.

Evanilson (£6.8m) shook off a dead leg to start, ousting Kroupi from the team. The Brazilian, another historic profligate finisher, actually did brilliantly to find the net in the second half, but was well offside. Evanilson linked play well – one of his strong suits – and Iraola was pretty emphatic on Saturday when discussing who he favours up top.

So, then, Kroupi’s best bet for starts is probably going to be in the ’10’. The problem is that Christie, who started in that position on Tuesday, is rediscovering his form. Remember that Tavernier started in that role on Saturday.

Iroala may opt for Kroupi in Gameweek 30 against a leaky Burnley but you wouldn’t be surprised to see him proceeding with a bit more caution, ie playing someone who is less of a ‘nine’ in the hole, in the games that follow:

MORE DEFCON POINTS FOR HILL + SENESI

This was an 11th straight start for Hill alongside Marcos Senesi (£4.9m).

In that time, no defender has racked up more defensive contributions than the cheaper Bournemouth centre-half:

That’s translated into a defender-best 16 DefCon points. It should have been 18, too, as his Gameweek 22 contributions were marked up after the FPL cut-off.

While the Cherries rode their luck to clean sheets at Wolves and West Ham, this was a lot more convincing. Brentford had only five shots all game, with Hill imperious again.

The Vitality is a bit of a defensive fortress: Bournemouth are ranked 1st for fewest big chances conceded (15) at home this season.

BACK TO DEFENSIVE BASICS FOR BEES

Brentford’s Statsbomb xG was only 0.05 at the 70-minute mark.

A decent chance for Dango Ouattara (£6.0m), set up by a Kevin Schade (£6.9m) header, and a very good set-piece opportunity for Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) added some veneer of respectability to their expected goals total.

Igor Thiago (£7.2m) failed to have a shot in a game for just the second time since Christmas.

Perhaps a more cautious approach was to be expected after the nutty seven-goal thriller at Turf Moor. Judging from Keith Andrews’ post-match comments, it did sound that there was a doubling down of defensive efforts. Consciously or subconsciously as a result of Burnley’s comeback, the Bees perhaps attacked with less gay abandon.

“We revisited some of our basics without the ball after conceding three goals on Saturday, and I thought we did that really well tonight. There was a real collective resilience without the ball whether we were pressing high or defending our box.

“With the ball, we probably didn’t hit the heights we have done but that can happen, and the opposition obviously have their game plan to try and stop you.” – Keith Andrews

Bournemouth’s aforementioned solidity at home is another mitigating circumstance.

There are still plenty of good fixtures to come, even if Wolves have improved significantly of late.

ANOTHER CENTRE-HALF CHANGE, HENRY GETS INJURED

Brentford lost Rico Henry (£4.3m) to an injury early in this contest.

“It’s a hamstring strain, that’s all I know.

“His performances have been of such a high level. It was a shame we lost him so early in the game and hopefully, it’s not too serious.” – Keith Andrews on Rico Henry

For the first time in 2026, Nathan Collins (£4.9m) started alongside van den Berg. The once-nailed centre-back partners have seen their first-team stints broken up by fitness and form, with Kristoffer Ajer (£4.4m) performing pretty well in their stead.

You’re never quite sure what Andrews is going to do next at centre-half, so Kelleher – back here from paternity leave – and Michael Kayode (£4.5m) remain the most reliable routes into the Bees’ backline.

Still, Ajer, Collins and van den Berg may all start together in the next few matches, should Henry join Aaron Hickey (£4.0m) on the injury list.

“Kris [Ajer] is unfortunate to come out of the team, really. Overall since he’s come into the team, he’s played a huge part both on and off the pitch.

“I think it’s fair to say he’s not a natural full-back. Aaron [Hickey] has obviously picked up an injury, now Rico [Henry]. We don’t have that natural full-back to come into it. The other option is Keano [Lewis-Potter], who played a lot there last season. They’re the decisions you have to make.” – Keith Andrews