Preview | Bournemouth v Swansea City
Swansea City face Premier League Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round this evening (7.45pm kick off).
It’s the second time the two sides have met this term having also been drawn against each other in the Carabao Cup second round in August.
That match ended 3-2 to the Cherries, and the Swans will be hoping to reverse the result this time out.
TEAM NEWS
Jamal Lowe is facing up to a month on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury against Southampton.
Ben Cabango, Sam Parker, Josh Key, Azeem Abdulai and Liam Walsh all remain out for the Swans, but Yannick Bolasie is in contention for selection for the fourth-round contest.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
Luke Williams: "Bournemouth are incredible. They have a very good group of players.
"Progression in the cup would be a brilliant way to encourage the team, and give the fans something really exciting to look forward to.
"We won’t use this game to make wholesale changes. I think a cup run would be brilliant, and it's useful for us to see more games because I’m still learning about the group."
Andoni Iraola: "We have to take it seriously because I don’t think it's going to be easy.
“We have experiences in past games against them in the Carabao Cup. It’s going to be a challenge for us.
“It’s not easy because they haven’t played so many games with their new manager, they’ve used different systems, they will change a little bit they way they play.
“They are very good players especially on the ball and we have to be ready to be intense, otherwise it's going to be difficult to take the ball from them.
“They are a very good possession-based team."
MEET THE OFFICIALS
Darren England will be the man in charge of Thursday evening’s Emirates FA Cup clash between Swansea City and Bournemouth (7.45pm kick-off).
VAR will be in place at the Premier League ground with Thomas Brammall, Paul Tierney and Constantine Hatzidakis set to watch the game from PGMOL’s Stockley Park, while Daniel Robathan and Daniel League will be the assistants and James Linington is set to be fourth official.
REMEMBER THE LAST TIME?
Swansea City suffered a 4-0 defeat on their last trip to Vitality Stadium in 2021.
Then Championship-leaders Bournemouth produced a clinical victory after the Swans had dominated the early stages.
The Cherries went ahead when Dominic Solanke fired home his 13th goal of the season before volleying in Leif Davis' cross for 2-0 early in the second half.
Jaidon Anthony nodded in a rebound from a Ryan Christie effort just after the hour-mark before, Jamal Lowe teed up a second for Anthony and a fourth for the hosts in added time.
PRIME NUMBERS
2 – It will be the second time the Swans have travelled to Bournemouth for an FA Cup tie. They lost 2-0 on the previous occasion with second-half goals from Wade Elliott and James Hayter knocking them out of the competition in 2000.
18 – Swansea fans won’t have many good memories of playing Bournemouth. The Swans haven’t beaten the Cherries since a League One encounter in 2006.