Newcastle make the long journey to the south coast as they face Bournemouth in Sky Sports live game on Saturday.
Kicking off at 5:30pm, Eddie Howe will be desperate to get a result against his former side and bounce back after a poor display in midweek against Dortmund in the Champions League.
Howe will be returning to a club where he is loved, playing over 250 games for Bournemouth before two separate spells as manager. He saw the club rise under his leadership from the fourth tier to the Premier League, eventually leaving in 2020 and will be returning to his former side in the midst of an injury crisis.
With just 13 outfield senior players at his disposal, there was talk of Martin Dubravka being used as an outfield player should times get desperate.
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Howe’s Newcastle side are unbeaten in seven in the league, scoring 20 times across that stretch whilst keeping five clean sheets which will understandably push the odds further in their favour.
Anthony Gordon has become a key performer, scoring three and assisting one in his last five Premier League games and comes in off the back of the winner against Arsenal last weekend.
Should Callum Wilson recover from a tight hamstring that saw him taken off after 45 minutes last week, the forward will be coming up against his former side after he left in 2020.
Newcastle relied on a late equaliser last season thanks to Miguel Almiron with Howe likely to want to avoid a repeat of that performance despite it tying a club-record 17-game unbeaten run at the time.
Having lost just twice in 13 games in all competitions, Howe has drilled in the type of attitude needed to thrive and succeed at the top level. However, Bournemouth will be smarting from a heavy defeat to Manchester City last week and will be looking to take advantage of the injury crisis on Tyneside.