Talking Tactics | Bournemouth v Swansea City

Swansea City travel to the south coast to face Bournemouth on Thursday (7:45pm) in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Ahead of the clash, WhoScored.com preview the fixture, looking at what to expect from the Cherries, a key battle and a key stat.

What to expect from Bournemouth

Andoni Iraola and Bournemouth have been in rich form of late with five wins from their last seven games in all competitions.

The Cherries were humbled by Liverpool most recently though, with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds producing a dominant second-half performance to claim the win by a 4-0 scoreline.

Bournemouth took on QPR in the FA Cup third round and were forced to come from behind after the west London club went in at the break two goals to the good. Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and Justin Kluivert each found the back of the net in the second half to secure their place in the fourth round.

A key to Bournemouth’s recent success has been the prolific scoring form of frontman Dominic Solanke. The English forward has scored 12 Premier League goals already this season, with only Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Man City’s Erling Haaland boasting a higher tally.

However, Iraola opted to give Solanke a rest in the third round and may look to do similar here, potentially opting for Wales international Moore to lead the line instead.

The striker has struggled for gametime so far this season and is yet to start a game in the Premier League, but he did take his chance when given the nod in the third round as he scored the goal which drew the Cherries level with QPR.

Iraola has set up his Bournemouth side in a 4-2-3-1 formation most frequently this season in the Premier League - with Solanke the spearhead. Bournemouth will likely take a similar approach here.

The Cherries have thrived off the ball so far in the league and are averaging just 43 per cent of the ball from their opening 21 Premier League games, ranking 14th in that division. In contract, Swansea average 52 per cent - the ninth highest such figure in the Championship.

A Key Battle

Aside from Solanke, Marcus Tavernier has been a key player for Bournemouth with the 24-year-old currently tied with Solanke for being WhoScored.com's highest-rated Bournemouth player this term.

His form was demonstrated further in the FA Cup, with Tavernier the standout player in the third round, winning the player of the match award with a WhoScored.com rating of 9.34 for his efforts at Loftus Road. Tavernier kickstarted the comeback with Bournemouth’s first goal of the game, finding the back of the net shortly after half-time.

Tavernier is in fact the Cherries top creator in the league, with four assists to his name already this season. Swansea’s equivalent is Charlie Patino, who also got himself on the scoresheet in the third round.

The 20-year-old has four assists and three goals to his name in the Championship so far and will hope to be key for the Swans if they are to get a Premier League scalp here.

Key Stat

These sides last met in the FA Cup back in 2000, with Bournemouth getting the better of Swansea 2-0 at home.

However, more recently, Bournemouth have struggled to find the back of the net at home and no team has scored fewer home league goals than the Cherries (11) in the Premier League.