Bournemouth

Tom Jordan
Fan writer

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Best memory and why

The 2-1 away win at Arsenal back in May felt massive. We had never won at Emirates Stadium and having beaten them earlier in the season at home, this meant we claimed our first double over the Gunners. We were behind at the break, so to turn this game around felt like a truly special moment.

Worst moment and why

It was a successful season for the Cherries, but our home defeat to soon-to-be-relegated Ipswich was a low moment. Our dreams of pushing for a spot in Europe felt like they all but ended that day.

If I could drink a New Year's brew with one member of our squad/management it would be...

Our stalwart at the back, Adam Smith. His first spell at the club was back in 2010 so to still be here coming into 2026 would mean he would certainly have plenty of stories. Discussing our incredible rise through the lower leagues and how he adapted to being a Premier League regular would be fascinating.

The thing that's infuriated me in 2025 is…

As much as us Bournemouth fans have to somewhat accept where we are in the football food chain, the transfer windows have been frustrating to say the least. We lost four of last season's back five in the summer, meaning progression was always going to be a tall order. Prior to that in the January of 2025, we were decimated by injuries yet still sat in the top five! Despite that, we opted not to strengthen the squad and it still feels like a missed opportunity.

My gut tells me 2026 will bring...

Honestly, an awful lot of uncertainty. Our head coach's contract expires at the end of the season and we anticipate losing many more of our key players. The "stepping stone" vibe around the club means uncertainty and squad turnover feels inevitable.

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Antoine Semenyo could be a Manchester City player as early as the weekend, according to Bournemouth Echo senior journalist Alexander Smith.

City have agreed to meet Semenyo's £65m release clause and talks between the clubs have been progressing this week with the transfer window opening on 1 January.

Before the Chelsea match on Tuesday, Smith told BBC Radio Manchester: "I think if the club get their negotiations right, he might be around for the weekend [against Arsenal] but to be honest I'm not optimistic of that. I think this is his last appearance in a Cherries shirt."

After the draw at Stamford Bridge however, manager Andoni Iraola said that it was "definitely not" the winger's last game.

"I think Antoine seems quite keen to get it sorted early which I guess is understandable, " Smith said. "In some ways, it suits Bournemouth to get the money in so they can look at replacements nice and early to hopefully get players through the door as soon as possible.

"But obviously there's a balance to be found between bringing in and letting him go early or keeping him for another couple of games where he might score a couple of goals and win them a point or two.

"If he was looking for purely game time, Man Utd were probably the best possible option but if he's looking at trophies, City would be the move. I also thought Liverpool was a sensible move as they start looking at succession planning for Mohamed Salah but it seems that he's settled on City."

Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds

Manchester City's Norway winger Oscar Bobb could join Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season, while Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Newcastle are among the clubs also interested in the 22-year-old. (Mail - subscription required), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "We all wanted to play a lot better and to forget this [first] 45 minutes against Brentford and finish proud of the performance whatever the result.

"The reward is not massive, at the end it is a draw and one point, but we have to be humble in this moment when everything is costing us a lot. Take the point and go slowly, slowly, keep growing in our performances and keep persisting.

"It is a great chance to have. Enes [Unal] has done very well and gave us this energy that we were probably lacking in the last part of the game. I think they've had more of the ball but we had better chances. I'm not fully satisfied with 2-2 to be honest."

On Antoine Semenyo's future: "I don't know what is going to happen but will definitely play [v Arsenal]. This is not his last game."

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Antoine Semenyo showed Chelsea - who briefly explored signing him - what they will miss, and offered Manchester City a glimpse of what is to come.

His first touch was a shimmy past Josh Acheampong and Estevao Willian before delivering a dangerous in-swinging cross in the fourth minute.

Three minutes later, his long throw-in opened the scoring, and he later repeated the feat to set up another.

There was much more to his game though. In an end-to-end contest, Semenyo's physicality was crucial at both ends, and he featured prominently in counter-attacks that helped Bournemouth create numerous chances in the first half.

It also highlighted something harder to quantify: Semenyo's professionalism and commitment.

He could have eased off to avoid injury before his move, but instead he threw himself into defensive duties, clearing multiple aerial balls in the second half.

Near the end, he was waiting for a long ball that Reece James intercepted as Bournemouth looked to soak up pressure while still using their star as an outlet.

It explains why not only City, but also Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal have all shown interest in him over the past 12 months.

When City manager Pep Guardiola reviews this footage, he will like what he sees - and Semenyo can leave Bournemouth having demonstrated total commitment to the end.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Bournemouth's display?

Come back on Wednesday for a selection of your replies

Chelsea change about half the team who lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa. Marc Cucurella was an injury doubt, and he misses out - with the Blues changing three of their back four. Liam Delap and Estevao replace Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto further up the field.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Acheampong, Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer, Estevao, Garnacho, Delap.

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Neto, Gittens, Santos, Pedro, James, Buonanotte.

Bournemouth make six changes after their 4-1 loss at Brentford. Among them are Evanilson replacing Junior Kroupi up front.

Bournemouth XI: Petrovic, Truffert, Senesi, Hill, Jimenez, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Kluivert, Evanilson.

Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Smith, Diakite, Adli, Kroupi, Unal, Rees-Dottin.

Pat Nevin
BBC Sport pundit and former footballer

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With Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal scraping 2-1 wins on Saturday, there is clear blue water between them and the chasing pack.

But those tight scorelines show that the gap between possible glory and being "nearly men" is wafer-thin.

‌The difference at the bottom is starker. Burnley and especially Wolves would already need a series of miracles to survive and West Ham are slipping closer to that position too. It is hard to see who the Hammers can catch, even with a decent upturn in form.

‌Everton have an eight-point advantage, though they are very light in numbers with Afcon and injuries seriously depleting the squad. Nottingham Forest look too good to go down, likewise Leeds with their current impressive upturn in form and results.

Amazing though it sounds, the team that could be in most peril is Bournemouth.

‌They could lose Antoine Semenyo in the transfer window for £65m and if they do not reinvest it wisely and quickly, they could be in trouble.

‌This is incredible considering their excellent start: by match nine in October they were flying high in second place. Now at match 18, having picked up only four points from the next 27 available, they are in a tailspin.

‌After coping well initially, selling just about their entire backline last summer is beginning to look like a kamikaze move.

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Henry Cowling
BBC Sport journalist

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The festive period is decision time over who gets presents in their stocking and who gets a big lump of coal. Some Premier League players may find themselves in the latter category given their disciplinary record across 2025.

One player with the joint-most fouls across the year is a name many probably would not have expected – Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo.

Semenyo finds himself at the top of the rankings with 70 fouls committed in the Premier League in 2025, level with Sasa Lukic. The Fulham player is joined on the list by fellow combative midfielders Bruno Guimaraes, Joao Gomes and Moises Caicedo.

It is Chelsea's Caicedo who has the most yellow cards in the Premier League in 2025, with 11.

Lukic, Lucas Paqueta, Tyler Adams, Elliot Anderson and Andre all reached double figures across the year with 10 apiece.

At the other end of the spectrum, Tino Livramento is top of the 'nice' list among regular starters. The full-back has committed just seven fouls across 2025 in the Premier League, four fewer then second-placed Alex Iwobi.

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea host Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues aiming to beef up their home form, while the Cherries are just hoping to find any sort of form.

The Premier League campaign is about to hit the halfway mark but it must feel a lot further on than that for Chelsea's players, whose off-season was massively shortened thanks to the Club World Cup campaign in June and July.

That summer action saw them crowned world champions but getting their hands on the domestic equivalent already looks as if it will have to wait for another season.

Chelsea are fifth but lie 13 points behind Arsenal, and have six points fewer than they did at this stage of last season.

Home form has been costing them, and the defeat at Stamford Bridge by Aston Villa at the weekend – which came despite them dominating the visitors for the first hour – means Chelsea have already lost three home league games this season, having only lost two in the whole of 2024-25.

In all three, they have gone 1-0 up - a worrying trend for the Blues, who have dropped 11 points from winning positions at home this season, which is more than any other side.

In fact, it is twice as many as the majority of top-flight clubs. Perhaps most tellingly, the four clubs above them in the table – Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool – have not dropped any.

The Blues will possibly be relieved that Tuesday's visitors are out-of-form Bournemouth, who are winless in their past nine league matches (D4, L5), and without a victory in their past eight games against Chelsea (D4, L4).

To add to the Cherries' current woes is the expected impeding departure of top scorer Antoine Semenyo, who is set to leave the club in the new year. Only two players have scored more goals in the Premier League this season than the Ghana international, who has found the net in his past three matches.

Semenyo could join an elite group should he score at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening.

Only three players have previously scored away at Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea in the same Premier League campaign. Semenyo has already scored at Anfield and Old Trafford in this season's top flight and will match Kevin Nolan (2001-02), Gabriel Agbonlahor (2006-07) and Robin van Persie (2011-12) with a goal at the Bridge that may be his last hurrah for Bournemouth.

Chelsea are fifth but they are on a sticky run at the moment, with only one win in six league games.

When they got their draw with 10 men against Arsenal at the end of November, I thought they were in the title race but they have completely fallen away.

However, Bournemouth's poor run of results goes back even further. After climbing to second place at the end of October, they haven't won any of their past nine matches.

It is a concerning time for their manager Andoni Iraola because this might be Antoine Semenyo's last game for the Cherries. Maybe losing three of their first-choice defenders in the summer - Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool and Illia Zabarnyi to Paris St-Germain is catching up with them too.

I'm not sure what is going wrong for the Cherries because they are still so aggressive in the way they press and play, but they are conceding a lot of goals and Brentford played right through them in the first half at the weekend.

It is only because West Ham have been so rotten that Bournemouth are still nine points clear of the relegation zone. I still always think Iraola's side will score, but I'm backing Enzo Maresca's side to win the battle of two very patchy teams.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Bournemouth see Tottenham's 24-year-old Wales forward Brennan Johnson as a potential replacement for Antoine Semenyo, 25, if the Ghana forward leaves the club in January. (Sky Sports, external)

However, they face competition from Crystal Palace, who are plotting a £35m bid for the Europa League winner. (Mail, external)

The Cherries are also interested in Leicester City's 21-year-old Ghana winger Abdul Fatawu, who has previously been linked to Crystal Palace, Everton and Sunderland. (Mail, external)

Finally, Barcelona want to sign Bournemouth's 28-year-old Argentina defender Marcos Senesi on a free transfer next summer. (Sport - in Spanish, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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