Bournemouth v Newcastle predictions

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Newcastle to win & under 3.5 goals
1pt 23-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Betting offers

Paddy Power are giving away free bets to new and existing customers and all you need is an account. Sign up here
Sky Bet are offering new customers multiple free bets when they sign up. Click here for free bets, money-back specials and BuildABet free bets
Betfair have lots of offers and money back offers. Sign up for a new account here
To get free bets from Ladbrokes today, simply sign up to a new account here
Don't have a Coral account? They have an offer for new customers here
New William Hill customers can claim free bets and benefit from their daily offers including Scratch Of The Day by clicking here

Team news

Bournemouth
Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke should be fit after lay-offs. Lewis Cook is out, while David Brooks and Lloyd Kelly are doubts.

Newcastle
Bruno Guimaraes is suspended. Javi Manquillo, Emil Krafth and Matt Targett are injured, but Alexander Isak has recovered from concussion.

Match preview

One of the Premier League's worst attacks will be trying to breach the competition's best defence and it should all lead to just one outcome at the Vitality Stadium.

Eddie Howe returns to Bournemouth for the first time since 2020 with his high-flying Newcastle and he can mastermind a return to winning ways for the Magpies.

Don't expect many goals and don't be surprised if the Cherries don't get any, so Newcastle & under 3.5 goals at 23-20 is well worth considering.

Bournemouth look in a terrible place and a panicked transfer window in January isn't necessarily the answer.

Gary O'Neil, increasingly looking out of depth, is trying to integrate a glut of new faces at the same time as several key players are coming back from injury. Never at any stage has the Cherries' chief looked like he knows his strongest line-up, and the picture is probably more cloudy than ever with so many in the building.

And the results speak for themselves. They have mustered just one point from a possible 18 since the season resumed after the World Cup and were largely played off the park in a 1-0 loss at Brighton last week.

That was a fifth league match in six in which they haven't found the net.

O'Neil has tried three different strikers in his last four outings and with reservations surrounding two of them, Kieffer Moore and Antoine Semenyo, the Bournemouth boss will be praying Dominic Solanke is fit enough to start.

All their issues are in stark contrast to Newcastle's, who are in the top four having lost just once in the league so far. The only reason they aren't within touching distance of Arsenal is because they are starting to ship points in draws having shared the spoils ten times overall and in four of their last five.

One of those was at home to Bournemouth in September when they knocked relentlessly on the visitors' door but just couldn't break them down. The arrival of Anthony Gordon gives them something different when Bournemouth opt for the stubborn approach once more.

The sides have met since in the League Cup with Newcastle winning 1-0 which adds weight to the consensus this game will be a low-scorer.

The Toon's last seven matches have produced just seven goals though Bournemouth fans might be slightly concerned that one-time Dean Court hero Callum Wilson ended a lengthy goal drought in last week's 1-1 draw with West Ham.

Key stat

Newcastle have conceded one goal in their last seven Premier League matches.

Probable teams

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Neto; Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Zemura; Lerma, Billing; Ouattara, Traore, Anthony; Solanke.
Subs: Stephens, Kelly, Vina, Fredericks, Tavernier, Moore, Semenyo

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton; Almiron, Wilson, Gordon.
Subs: Lascelles, Lewis, Fraser, Ritchie, Murphy, Anderson, Isak, Saint-Maximin