Thursday 13 April 2017

No away wins in 2017 for the Cherries is a stat we'd like to change

AFCB have had five away games in 2017 and have not managed a win yet. I believe the Cherries are playing much better now than they were in January, but there is still a need for them to turn one of these games, where they are in it well enough to get a draw, into a win. Against Spurs that might be hard to imagine, but when everyone else is picking up unlikely results the bar is set high.

AFCB have to find away to pinch a win if they can.
The teams that the Cherries have played away this season are all currently in the top nine, so the fixture machine has not been too kind with a visit to Spurs next on the agenda. Surprisingly, it is only the 0-0 draw at Southampton when the team failed to score, and in that game they probably had the bast chance to turn the draw into a win. Poor starts have been evident in many of these games and even when AFCB got ahead of Liverpool and WBA, they could not hold out for the first half without conceding.

It's quite a different picture to the away wins that the Cherries were able to gather last season. Premier League safety will probably be most likely to come in the remaining home games if it comes and while the Cherries have that to come, they must try and do all they can to turn in a performance that gives them a good chance of getting the three points they really need at Spurs.
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Eddie Howe will have to set the team up with a view of trying to stay in the match as long as he can and at Liverpool and Man Utd the balance between attack mindedness and guarding against breaks was good. Can he contain Spurs though? The absence of Surman is a big loss in a match like this. AFCB need to keep hold of the ball for as much time as they can and having quick passes and organisation is a must in central midfield where AFCB struggled against Chelsea at home.

This may mean a change in set up just to nullify Spurs preparations. Coming up with an away plan is not so difficult but implementing it well will be he test. 

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