Bournemouth’s Double Gameweek 33 got off to a victorious start with a 2-1 win over Newcastle United.
That’s now 13 Premier League games unbeaten for the Cherries, the longest such (current) run in the top flight.
On the flip side of that coin, it’s eight losses in 11 Gameweeks for the blundering Magpies.
GORDON + LIVRAMENTO INJURY UPDATES
Speculation over Anthony Gordon‘s (£7.4m) future on Tyneside has filled the back pages this week, and the rumour mill went into overdrive when his name was missing from the teamsheet on Saturday.
Officially, according to the club and Eddie Howe, he has a hip problem. Either way, if you were counting on him to feature in Blank Gameweek 34, there’s some doubt about that.
“He missed training on Thursday and Friday with a problem he picked up on Wednesday. So yeah, we knew he wasn’t going to be ready.
“Yeah, absolutely [I can kill any speculation over his commitment]. Today was an injury. He went for a scan, I think it was Thursday morning, and it was clear he had an injury that would take him out of the game.
“With Anthony, we’re unclear [whether he’ll be back for Gameweek 34]. I don’t think it’s a long-term injury. Whether he makes next week, I don’t know. We’ll have to see how he goes this week in training.” – Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon
Newcastle suffered another injury blow in the second half when Tino Livramento (£4.9m) signalled to the bench to come off. It’s a muscle issue for the defender, so there’s also plenty of concern about him for Gameweek 34.
“For Tino, that’s a huge blow for him and for us. I actually thought he, in part with Kieran [Trippier]’s introduction at the beginning of the second half, made us stronger, and then losing him was a big blow.” – Eddie Howe on Tino Livramento
WHY HALL WAS SUBBED OFF
Lewis Hall (£5.4m) meanwhile was hooked at half-time. Kieran Trippier (£4.9m) replaced him, with Livramento switching from right-back to left-back.
Another injury problem for Newcastle? Not this time. This was a tactical change, no doubt influenced by a first half in which Rayan (£5.5m) tormented Hall down the hosts’ left.
“That was tactical.” – Eddie Howe on Lewis Hall’s withdrawal
Should Livramento be ruled out, as seems likely, that obviously boosts Hall’s expected minutes for the run-in. There’s always the option of Dan Burn (£5.0m) at left-back, however, and that’s indeed how the Magpies finished the game.
ANOTHER SORRY DEFEAT – BUT CAN BRUNO INSPIRE?
Whether Fantasy managers would want a Newcastle defender is another question. It’s now one clean sheet in 19 matches for Eddie Howe’s side in all competitions.
The xG suggests 1-2 flattered them, indeed:
It’s not much better at the other end. Some rigid, uninspired attacking play saw them barely carve out anything of note. Even their goal wasn’t ‘created’ by their own play, an inadvertent Evanilson (£6.7m) pass setting up William Osula (£5.4m).
It’s three goals in four league matches now for the budget forward. He’s started the last two, as well, again being preferred to Nick Woltemade (£6.7m) and Yoane Wissa (£7.3m). He’s a rare Newcastle success story at present.
“That’s certainly not what we’re messaging to the players. I mean, we take great pride in what we do. We want to win every game. Our preparation is total. Our work before games is total. This week was as intense as any other in the season.” – Eddie Howe on whether there’s a futility to the end of Newcastle’s season now
So, then, leave Newcastle well alone in FPL terms? Few will be touching them with a bargepole in Gameweek 34, away at Arsenal, but there is a glimmer of hope thereafter: the return of their talisman, Bruno Guimaraes (£6.8m).
His two-month absence ended with a second-half cameo here, and the roar was deafening when he came on. He nearly tiptoed into the box to score in stoppage time, being denied by Djordje Petrovic‘s (£4.6m) feet.
It’s a lot to lay at his feet, but then, averaging 5.8 points per start in 2025/26, he’s carried them plenty of times in the past.
“Hopefully, with Bruno’s return, if we can keep him fit, it could be the catalyst.” – Eddie Howe on Bruno Guimaraes
A TALE OF EVANILSON
This was another solid showing from the Cherries, if not quite as good as last weekend’s at the Emirates. While not absolutely dominating proceedings, they still looked sharper than their hosts and more threatening when they did attack.
A lot of the key moments centred around Evanilson.
Would the Cherries have had a clean sheet were it not for the striker’s unfortunate ‘assist’ for Osula? Very possibly, given the lack of clear-cut chances Newcastle had fashioned.
And then there were the attacking returns left on the table. Alex Scott (£5.0m) owners will be livid that the Brazilian sent the ball wide from the midfielder’s pass, with the goal gaping (see below). Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m) also could have had an assist, only for Evanilson’s 50p coin header – and it was telling that both Opta and Statsbomb recorded it as a shot, not a pass – to drop down for Adrien Truffert (£4.7m) to score.
Evanilson has many, many strengths; finishing isn’t one of them.
It’s maybe why Andoni Iraola is asking his wingers to alleviate the goalscoring burden and attack the box more. Tavernier, not a great finisher himself, couldn’t miss when bundling the ball in from point-blank range in the first half, having earlier gone close from the edge of the six-yard box.
Tavernier ended up with the highest xG and xGI in the Premier League on Saturday.
“I’m very happy when they score like this because I have to shout at them 200 times for them to arrive one or two times!
“I always tell them, ‘I know that’s an effort, I know it’s a sprint, but the reward after the sprint is massive, it’s a goal’. Sometimes it’s worth it.” – Andoni Iraola on Marcus Tavernier’s opener
KROUPI OFF EARLY + HILL BANKS DEFCON
The Newcastle goal aside, James Hill (£4.2m) was imperious at the back again. He was the only Cherry to bank DefCon points on Saturday (see above).
“I think it has been the key, probably, of this run: we are conceding a lot less. Defensively, we are in a better place.” – Andoni Iraola
On the subject of budget assets, Eli Kroupi (£4.6m), who had a couple of decent sighters without success, came off midway through the second half with Ryan Christie (£4.9m). Those two players always looked like minutes risk going into the Double Gameweek, and they’ll have to buck recent trends to start again on Wednesday.
“Some players were tired from both teams. We decided to go early with the subs because we wanted to keep the physical level high.” – Andoni Iraola
