Bournemouth

There are 18 games in both the Europa League and the Conference League on Thursday - with Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland involved in the former, and Brighton the latter - and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Lyon v Crystal Palace (17:45)

• Torreense v Sunderland (17:45)

• Bournemouth v Sturm Graz

• Brighton v Kaunos Zalgiris

See the fixture lists in full here

Kick-off times 20:00 BST unless stated.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

New this season: Live match updates

Fans of Premier League clubs can now get real-time scores live on their phone lock screen for every game.

Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

Find out more here

Image source, BBC Sport

New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or on this link

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth captain Adam Smith says he "would have never believed" he would be leading the side out for a European home game when he first joined the club 16 years ago.

Smith, now 35, initially joined on loan from Tottenham for the 2010-11 season, just after the Cherries had been promoted from League Two.

He then returned on a permanent basis in January 2014 with the club in the Championship and has been part of their journey ever since.

"When I first joined I ever expected to be playing in Europe, or finishing in the top six like we did last season, and performing at this level. I would never have believed it," Smith told a news conference before Bournemouth host Sturm Graz on Thursday.

There is the potential for the highest attendance at Vitality Stadium since it was reconfigured in 2001, with the filled-in north-west and south-east corner sections now complete and available for use.

Because of Uefa's long-standing ban on stadium sponsor names, it will officially be Bournemouth Stadium for the evening, even if many of the home fans still call it Dean Court.

Smith described the ground when he arrived, which had only recently acquired a fourth stand, as "not great" and praised the supporters who have been along for the ride.

"For the club and the fans, it's amazing. As a player, obviously it's great to play in, but it's just another game for me and the lads," he added.

"The fans will be there with us, supporting us. Especially after a difficult weekend, we are going to need them. It's up to us to bring the performance and the atmosphere on the night.

"There's more fans in the stadium and it's a big night for the club. I'm sure it can bring a little bit more atmosphere. "

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Mitchener
BBC Sport senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

As Bournemouth's wait for a Premier League win goes on, the relentless nature of the season leaves little time to dwell on Saturday's nightmare 5-1 defeat at Chelsea, when the Cherries conceded twice in the first three minutes of the first half, and again in the opening minute of the second half.

Depending on your pre-existing opinions regarding the "expected goals" metric, the fact that Chelsea only had an xG of 1.08 compared to Bournemouth's 1.46 will either confirm your view of xG's irrelevance, or perhaps point to how Chelsea's clinical finishing made the difference, with only six shots on target but five goals scored.

However, Bournemouth's focus must now be on Thursday's Europa League game with Sturm Graz, which promises to be a historic night at Vitality Stadium - which, because of Uefa's long-standing ban on stadium sponsor names, will officially be "Bournemouth Stadium" for the evening, even if many of the home fans will still just call it Dean Court.

Not only is it Bournemouth's first home European game, there is the potential for the highest home attendance since the stadium was reconfigured in 2001 (with the pitch turned through 90 degrees), with the filled-in north-west and south-east corner sections now complete and available for use.

Sturm were runners-up in last season's Austrian Bundesliga, dropping out of this season's Champions League after the third qualifying round.

They will be looking to improve on last season's Europa League record, where they lost five of their eight league phase games and finished 26th, failing to qualify for the knockout stages.

On the same night, Sunderland travel to Portuguese side Torreense, before the Black Cats visit Bournemouth on Sunday.

It feels like a big week for Bournemouth. Two home wins would very much restore the feelgood factor, no wins would only increase the sense that 2026-27 could be a long and difficult season.

Explore Bournemouth content on BBC Sounds

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Bournemouth boss Marco Rose has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Europa League game against Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz at The Vitality Stadium (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Rose said he is "looking forward" to having Amine Adli and Justin Kluivert back in the squad for Thursday's game. Adline has not featured yet this season as he recovers from a calf injury, while Kluivert has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem.

• He added that Eli Junior Kroupi is "back on the pitch and maybe in a few weeks we have him as well". Last season's top scorer is stepping up his recovery from a foot injury sustained during the Cherries' pre-season training camp in Austria.

• Rose stressed having stars like Kroupi and fellow absentee Alex Scott back is "important" as "they can make the difference".

• He said the injury situation surrounding his squad is "getting better", and he has no new injuries from Sunday's defeat at Chelsea. A few players were suffering from an illness over the last few days but are "all good now".

• Asked about reports the club could be willing to sell Scott in January, Rose said: "We just closed the other transfer window and we talk about the next one. Me and the club are just focused on the game tomorrow and not commenting on rumours that show up right after the other window closes. We are looking to have him back in a couple of days or weeks and we continue with Alex Scott. He is quite committed - that is what everyone can see in the first games."

• Reflecting on the 5-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, Rose said: "We want and have to show a reaction. The only good thing out of this game is we got a real slap result-wise. If you start a game like we started the task is getting much more difficult. I felt after the game everyone was really disappointed. We got a real slap and now we have to show a reaction."

• On leading Bournemouth into their first ever European home match, Rose said: "I understand it very well because I know the club and its history now much better. It is an outstanding journey the club have had the last years with all the things the club suffered. Now we are playing Europe and we have to find the balance. We want to compete everywhere, that is still the plan. Tomorrow we have the chance to show our club for the first time at home in European football. It is a big thing."

• On not winning a game yet in the Premier League: "We have to stick together. We are in a not so comfortable situation points-wise in the Premier League. We know we are able to get points out of games, can perform well, and are confident enough. It's about proving these kind of things again."

• On Thursday's opponents, who Rose faced during his time as RB Salzburg boss: "The Austrian league has improved a lot in the last few years, especially Sturm Graz. When I was there it was mostly about Salzburg but now other teams have come up. They are experienced in the Champions League and they are competitors. They are high-pressing, really intense and close to Premier League level."

Bournemouth are open to selling England midfielder Alex Scott in January under certain conditions.

After a final round of talks with his representatives, senior sources say the Cherries are willing to sanction Scott's sale if an offer of about £100m arrives in January.

Another condition will be Bournemouth's position in the Premier League table. If they are struggling towards the bottom of the league then the club may decide they need Scott to help secure survival.

The decision to consider Scott's sale is a bitter-sweet one for the Cherries.

The club entered the season insisting none of their prized assets, including Scott, Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi, would be sold before the summer of 2027.

However, they have since reluctantly concluded they would be prepared to let Scott leave if their valuation is met.

Bournemouth can point to a market in which spending on midfielders has reached unprecedented levels across the Premier League.

Three players have commanded fees of more than £100m in the position and the Cherries are seeking a similar amount for Scott.

A TransferRoom report, released on Tuesday, shows spending on defensive midfielders rose by "191% to 1.38bn euros , while the average fee increased by 156% to 9.9m euros - the highest average fee of any position."

There is also frustration within the club that Scott picked up an injury while away with England.

He entered the camp carrying tightness, only for the issue to worsen and leave him sidelined for about six weeks.

That came after Kroupi sustained a serious injury in pre-season, causing him to miss the entire campaign so far, with a return not expected until November.

New manager Marco Rose is yet to win a league match, with the 5-1 defeat by Chelsea representing the lowest point of his tenure so far.

There remains hope results will improve. Andoni Iraola endured an even longer winless run when he first took charge, while there is excitement surrounding Bournemouth's Europa League campaign.

Their European adventure began with an impressive win against Real Sociedad and continues with a home game against Sturm Graz on Thursday.

Read the full article here

Listen to more from Nizaar by pressing play below or on BBC Sounds here

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Imagine a world where Manchester City had not used "sham contracts" to build a team capable of winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three EFL Cups.

If City were the winners, then there had to be losers - and not just those teams who finished runners-up or lost cup finals.

The potential impact runs much deeper and includes missed Champions League qualification, relegation and Premier League prize money.

Thirty-five other teams played in the English top flight between 2009 and 2018.

And every one could in some way claim to have been left financially out of pocket.

Learn more about how the numbers were calculated here

On the latest episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, the panel discussed Bournemouth's winless start to the Premier League season and the added pressure of European football.

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton says competing on both fronts might be a "season too much", for the Cherries.

"They haven't got off to a flyer and the games are going to come thick and fast," Sutton added.

When asked if Bournemouth could cope with a relegation battle, he said: "Are they battle-hardened enough to really grind out results? Marco Rose isn't that kind of manager. He is a front-foot, aggressive manager with attacking principles.

"The Premier League is hard enough as it is, but when you have to score three goals to win a game, that's not easy."

Listen to the full episode on on BBC Sounds

Chelsea are willing to meet Bournemouth's asking price for midfielder Alex Scott in January, although the Cherries are still hopeful he will sign a new deal. (Teamtalk), external

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Chelsea and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Alan: It was a good, entertaining game, with Rogers and Henderson on fire. I still held my breath every time the ball got anywhere near our defence, which needs to seriously sort themselves out. Another game where our club captain James was not present. I think we need a new, more permanent club captain.

George: That performance has given me hope that we can still compete for at least a Champions League place this season. Much better compared with the Brentford match.

Phil: Much better from Chelsea apart from 10 minutes after the goal. Our front three are the best in the league - if others, like Henderson, can chip in with a few then we will beat most teams.

Keith: Generally a very good performance, but I still fear for us when playing the better teams. Defensively, we looked more solid but there is still work to do. Lacroix isn't the answer bceause he is slow and not commanding in the air for such a big man.

Bournemouth fans

Simon: The performance was reminiscent of our Scott Parker episode; utterly dismal and lost. We couldn't keep possession, couldn't string three passes together and had no outlets to find our strikers. It's hard to see how get ourselves out of this mess.

Patrick: Dismal display of second-rate football. We've lost our mojo from last season. We need some significant changes to our style of play if we're going to stay up.

Jools: A strong dose of reality. The Cherries are never good after an international break. With our best players missing we look bang ordinary. This might be a hard position to escape from.

James: I know it sounds unambitious but as long as we finish at least 17th this season I'll be happy. Ultimately we are among teams much much bigger than us and we compete well most of the time. We also need to remember it took Andoni 10 games to get his first win and things turned out well in the long run.

Bournemouth winger Ben Gannon-Doak says the squad need to "knuckle down and stick together" as the wait for their first Premier League win of the season goes on.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent after coming on in the 5-1 defeat at Chelsea, he said: "We're near the bottom of the table. We've only got three points from six games. Hopefully we can turn that around."

On his own game time, he added: "I'm working, trying to be positive, trying to make things happen - that's all a winger can really do when they're trying to break into a side.

"I'm not too worried about taking risks, especially when you're already losing by a big margin so, trying to make a difference and trying to play the risky ball that can get a high reward.

"Obviously, it's down to the manager to trust me and put me in, and it's down to me to gain his trust so, hopefully, I can keep doing that.

"It's a long season ahead. Hopefully, I can just stay fit, keep going and, as a group, we can knuckle down and stick together to get out of this tough spot."

Hear the interview in full below or listen on BBC Sounds here

BBC Radio Solent's Jordan Clark and former Bournemouth defender Joe Partington dissect a heavy 5-1 defeat at Chelsea.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Bournemouth content on BBC Sounds

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth's winless run had previously been defined by conceding late goals, but early goals were the problem on Saturday.

They were arguably unfortunate to fall behind to Jordan Henderson's fine strike, but they were poor in possession throughout the first half and invited pressure.

That's exactly what happened as Morgan Rogers curled in Chelsea's second of the match.

Two goals down after two minutes and 30 seconds, it was always going to be difficult to take anything from Chelsea, but another mistake by Silva moments after the interval will be a concern for Rose.

It is only the second time Bournemouth have failed to win any of their opening six matches of a Premier League season.

The previous occasion came under Rose's predecessor Andoni Iraola, who went nine games without a win before becoming arguably the most successful manager in the club's modern history.

There are, of course, problems the German coach could not have accounted for as he tries to balance their league form with a first European campaign.

He lost star midfielder Alex Scott to injury over the international break after he started his first game for England despite carrying a knock in the build-up to the match.

Scott is now expected to be out for up to six weeks, while key attacker Eli Junior Kroupi remains is not due back until November after suffering a significant injury in pre-season.

"We played not good so it was a deserved loss, especially if we start how we started in both halves of the game," said Rose.

"We know Chelsea is a team that starts well and scores many goals at the beginning of the game. It's my fault we didn't react well to this information.

"In the past games, we struggled despite good performances with poor moments. Today, we struggled but had some good moments.

"We were not ready, not sharp enough, even our pressing was not Bournemouth-like in many situations. We just didn't play a good game and this can happen. We need to face the reality of three points from six games."

Bournemouth manager Marco Rose, spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's defeat by Chelsea: "If you concede two times so early...it's too much against Chelsea. We didn't react in the right way. It was a really bad performance by us today. The last games we had some good performance but today we struggled.

"Three points after six games, we need a reaction. Everyone has to take the responsibility to do better. We knew it was going to be a demanding season. We have to stick together and face reality. The reality is we have three points after six games.

"Even after we scored I felt we maybe get back in the game but we were not clinical enough. It was a tough game but our performance was not good enough.

"We are still a good squad. We have good players. Some of them need to get into a rhythm [after injury]. It is important to suffer no more injuries. We need to win a game to get more confidence."

Hear more from Rose on BBC Sounds

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?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are six games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Arsenal v Leeds United (12:30)

• Aston Villa v Brentford - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Chelsea v Bournemouth - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Ipswich Town v Fulham

• Sunderland v Brighton

• Manchester United v Tottenham (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

How to follow the Premier League weekend across the BBC

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Manchester United v Tottenham" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Brentford match", for example.

New this season: Live match updates

Fans of Premier League clubs can now get real-time scores live on their phone lock screen for every game.

Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

Find out more here

Image source, BBC Sport

New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or on this link

Bournemouth have not won yet under Marco Rose, and they are also without key midfielder Alex Scott for a while as a result of his injury on international duty.

I feel like the Cherries have been a bit unlucky with their results under Rose so far, because they have conceded some costly late goals, but Scott's absence is a huge blow for them.

Chelsea are already turning into a team that are a nightmare to predict - defensively they have got huge issues, but they have got such a talented attack.

Some people thought they would be up there challenging for the title, but they look far too inconsistent to do that.

Anything could happen in this game and I was tempted to say Bournemouth will get something out of it.

But Cole Palmer will be rested and refreshed after his injury so I am going to base my prediction on how I expect Chelsea's frontline to click.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

Chelsea seek a return to form at the expense of Bournemouth, who are winless in the league this season as well as in the past nine meetings between the clubs – although the three most recent occasions all ended in draws.

Baffling Blues

Widely lauded after opening the season with two entertaining wins, Chelsea have nosedived to mid-table and eight points off the top three games later.

"We have dropped our consistency and our competitive mentality," bemoaned head coach Xabi Alonso in the wake of the 3-0 loss at Brentford immediately prior to the international break. That defeat was Chelsea's 11th of 2026 in the league, already one more than in the entirety of last year.

Chelsea's defensive shortcomings have been much discussed. They have faced the most shots on target (32), let in a league-high 12 goals and could become only the third team in Premier League history to concede twice or more in each of their opening six games of a season, after Everton in 1994-95 and Derby County in 2000-01.

Furthermore, the Blues' current run of 21 league fixtures without a clean sheet is their longest since a club record 31-match streak between 1960 and 1961.

Nonetheless, Chelsea's attacking potency means they are providing great entertainment, for neutral observers at least. Their top-flight games have produced an unrivalled 22 goals and they are just the 10th side to both score and concede double figures across their first five Premier League matches in a season. Each of the previous three, beginning with Chelsea themselves in 2019-20, went on to finish in the top four.

Scott injury bites Cherries

It has also been a curious start to 2026-27 for Bournemouth, who won on their European debut away to Real Sociedad and are through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup – but remain without a victory in the league despite only trailing for 45 minutes this season.

They now face a run of nine games in 30 days without key midfielder Alex Scott, who was the subject of a failed £64m bid from Chelsea in the summer. He gave an assured display on his first senior England start against Croatia last weekend but suffered a thigh muscle injury during that 7-0 win.

"He is good in everything, and to miss a player who is good in everything is a challenge," admitted Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose.

That assessment of Scott's importance is borne out by the fact he ranks in the Premier League top five this season for a variety of metrics, including winning possession, fouls won and total distance covered.

Bournemouth return to action after the international break on Saturday when face Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries have gone winless in five games to start a Premier League campaign for only the second time (2023-24 the other instance).

Captain Adam Smith spoke to BBC Radio Solent on Alex Scott's England debut and injury, as well as the prospect of seeing Juanlu Sanchez in action: "It is very well deserved, and he [Scott] performed very well. A shame that he has got injured.

"I spoke to him and I said that is part of football. Hopefully he is not out for too long, and hopefully he can come back soon.

"Frustrating for him that he got a chance and now he is out. Football has a funny way of doing this to you.

"We have got a lot of quality players that have played recently. This is why we have got such a big squad this season. I am sure whoever comes in at the weekend will be fine.

"[Juanlu] is a really nice guy, I think he is trying to adapt to the way English football is.

"I am sure when he gets his chance, he will perform well. I think it is him adapting to the culture and everything else which he has been doing well."

Listen to more from Scott by pressing play below or on BBC Sounds here