Bournemouth vs West Ham United
The Premier League Summer Series heads to Stateside – now that’s quite a mouthful. This SBOTOP observer has been taking in the Premier League Summer Series 2025 highlights (for that’s effectively what this pre-season tournament is) over the past week, and it’s been fairly enjoyable.
Now there’s one final episode this weekend before the clubs return to their homeland as the real action looms ever closer.
Talking Points
Bournemouth have had a mixed time of it in America thus far. They comprehensively saw off Everton in New Jersey when Philip Billing, Dango Ouattara, and Daniel Adu-Adjei scored three second-half goals in 14 minutes without reply. They were then very much second best in their second outing in midweek when they were defeated 4-1 by Manchester United.
Of course, results in pre-season are irrelevant, as what is important is ensuring players gain match fitness and gel with teammates ahead of the big kick-off. The latter performance, though, prompted Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola to say how far his team is off the pace.
That is hardly a surprise given the Cherries have it all to do if they are to repeat their fine campaign (when they finished ninth) after losing talented young defenders Dean Huijsen – to Real Madrid, no less – and Milos Kerkez, to Liverpool, this summer.
Their main arrival to date has been goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea, so there is no doubt Iraola needs to strengthen if another top-half finish is to be realistic.
One man who has returned and could swing the Premier League Summer Series 2025 odds in their favour is Billing, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Napoli. He played enough to be part of a Serie A winning side – and scored a crucial 87th-minute equaliser against then champions Inter Milan in March – but not enough to persuade the Italians to take up an option to make the move permanent.
The club is reportedly interested in signing Cagliari midfielder Michel Adopo this summer and, should he arrive on the south coast, he would join Petrovic and left-back Adrien Truffert as their third addition.
West Ham were also in action in midweek as they came from behind to defeat Everton in Chicago with goals from Lucas Paqueta and Man of the Match Niclas Fullkrug.
With Sunday’s game against Bournemouth in mind, manager Graham Potter made seven substitutions at half-time, including replacing debutant Kyle Walker-Peters and new signing El Hadji Malick Diouf. It’s a big year for Potter, whose superb work at Brighton earned him the Chelsea job, where he was barely given six months.
The Hammers are light in certain areas. There is a big gap up front following the release of Danny Ings, while Mohammed Kudus has joined Tottenham.
It is understood ex-Newcastle and Bournemouth man Callum Wilson has been offered a one-year deal (with the option of an extension), which has frustrated some of their fan base who are pleading for a more long-term approach to recruitment, although I actually think he is worth a punt.
As well as securing the £19 million addition of Diouf from Slavia Prague, and they will also have the boost of Paqueta involved without charges hanging over his head.
It was confirmed yesterday that he has been cleared of spot-fixing by an independent regulatory commission, removing a shadow that stood to wreck his career, almost two years after the Football Association launched an investigation into him. Two counts of failing to cooperate with the investigation have been proven, which may mean a short-term suspension for the player.
History
It may surprise many readers, but this will be only the 23rd ever meeting between these two clubs – and the first was way back in 1929 (96 years ago) when the Cherries went under the name of Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic.
Indeed, all five of their 22 clashes have been in the last decade since the south coast club was promoted to the Premier League. There’s been no shortage of action either. Last season, both teams shared the spoils.
The south coast drama was consigned to the final three minutes when Paqueta struck an 87th-minute penalty, only to be cancelled out by Enes Unal in the final minute.
There were four goals shared at the London Stadium in April when Evanilson grabbed a double on either side of two goals in nine second-half minutes from Fullkrug and Jarrod Bowen. That extended Bournemouth’s run against West Ham to nine games without a win, going back to 2019.
One of their most memorable games was a Boxing Day thriller in 2017 when Wilson netted a last-minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw after Marko Arnautovic looked to have won it for the Hammers.
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