Sutton's predictions: Bournemouth v West Hampublished at 11:09 GMT 22 November 2025
11:09 GMT 22 November 2025
Bournemouth have lost their past two games - albeit both of them were away - but they got absolutely spanked by Aston Villa last time out, which surprised me.
In contrast, West Ham won two in a row before the international break and, although both of those games were at home, they do look competitive again.
The Hammers' only away win this season came at Nottingham Forest in August, when West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo was still Forest manager.
So, what on earth do I go with here - will it be West Ham extending their run under Nuno, or Bournemouth bouncing back?
I am going to go with Bournemouth, because I think what happened against Villa was a blip.
Bournemouth v West Ham: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 19:10 GMT 21 November 2025
19:10 GMT 21 November 2025
Jordan Butler BBC Sport journalist
Bournemouth seek to get back to winning ways against a West Ham side starting to find some momentum. BBC Sport explores some of the key talking points going into this match.
A return to the south coast and Vitality Stadium will be welcomed by all at Bournemouth.
Andoni Iraola's side suffered consecutive away defeats by Manchester City and Aston Villa before the international break and their 4-0 loss at Villa was their heaviest under the Spanish coach since a home reverse to Liverpool by the same scoreline in January 2024.
"I'm a bit worried about the first half," said the 43-year-old in his post-match interview at Villa Park. "Because it is coming after a [Manchester] City game where we were not at our level."
Before those away losses, the Cherries were on an eight-match unbeaten run. They have won four of their five home matches this season, drawing the other, and only Manchester City, with 15, have taken more points on home soil then the 13 they have accrued.
Semenyo's recent woes
Bournemouth's mini-slump could simply be blamed on a tricky run of fixtures but their form also appears to be intrinsically linked to the performances of star winger Antoine Semenyo.
The 25-year-old began the season with six goals and three assists, but since the October international break, he has gone four league games without a goal involvement and failed to convert a penalty in his previous outing. His general attacking output is down across the board.
Iraola has never lost a top-flight match when facing a team managed by Nuno Espirito Santo. The Spaniard has won two and drawn two of his previous meetings with the Portuguese and if he can get Semenyo firing again then the chances of that run continuing will markedly increase.
Hammers turning a corner?
West Ham's disastrous start to the season has been well documented, and four points from their opening nine games represented their worst beginning to a league campaign for 52 years.
But back-to-back Premier League victories for Nuno's side have injected some much-needed confidence and they are now attempting to win three in a row for the first time since December 2023.
"We have proven we want to change things," said Nuno after the 3-2 triumph over Burnley two weeks ago. "We want to be strong characters. The boys on the pitch are showing this slowly."
The Hammers have recently enjoyed the upper hand against Saturday's opponents and they are unbeaten in nine previous meetings with Bournemouth in all competitions, winning four and drawing five.
They have also scored in 15 of their 16 Premier League games against the Cherries - a 2-0 defeat at Vitality Stadium in January 2019 was the only time they failed to find the net.
International hangover
However, West Ham have lost all three of their fixtures directly after an international break this year and they are the only ever-present top-flight side to do so.
Financial Fair Play rules in Premier League to change next seasonpublished at 18:10 GMT 21 November 2025
18:10 GMT 21 November 2025
Image source, Getty Images
The Premier League will from next season move to a new system of Financial Fair Play (FFP) based on squad costs.
The clubs met in London on Friday to vote on three possible methods of replacing Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) got 14 votes in favour and six against, which is the minimum number that is required to exact a rule change.
Overall squad costs from next season will have to be limited to 85% of a club's revenue, although teams competing in Europe will have to adhere to Uefa's maximum of 70%.
Squad costs comprise player and manager wages, transfer fees and agents' fees.
Rules around sustainability, which set out a club's financial spending plans over the medium and long term, were passed unanimously.
Iraola on Semenyo's release clause, Gannon-Doak's injury and West Hampublished at 13:06 GMT 21 November 2025
13:06 GMT 21 November 2025
Josh Lobley BBC Sport Journalist
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against West Ham at Vitality Stadium (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his chat with BBC Radio Solent:
The release cause in Antoine Semenyo's contract, which was reported on over the international break, does not worry Iraola, who said the Cherries are not expecting to lose him. Instead, he is focusing on Semenyo's performances before a busy winter schedule.
He added they will have to wait to see if the forward is available for Saturday's match.
When asked if this kind of speculation affects the dressing room: "We do not talk about these things and I never talk about it with the players. I don't know if it affects the mentality but, for me, it definitely does not."
Both Justin Kluivert and Ben Gannon-Doak picked up injuries over the international break. Iraola said Kluivert's injury is smaller and he hopes the player can recover as soon as possible. However Gannon-Doak has a "big hamstring injury" which may require surgery. Iraola thinks the Scot will be out for months.
On Saturday's opponents and their new manager Nuno Espirito Santo: "It is definitely working [with Nuno]. They have very good individuals who can make the difference. We have had to be very careful every time we face them and I expect it to be very similar."
Iraola's potential departure 'a sad thought' - Billam-Smithpublished at 08:04 GMT 21 November 2025
08:04 GMT 21 November 2025
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Last month, BBC Radio Solent's Jordan Clark revealed that contract negotiations between Bournemouth and Andoni Iraola's representatives were "still taking place", with the manager's current deal set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
But former cruiserweight world champion boxer and Bournemouth fan Chris Billam-Smith believes the manager's decision will depend on "how this season goes" for the Cherries, who are currently ninth in the Premier League table after 11 games.
Speaking on a special live episode of the Cherries: Unpicked podcast, Billam-Smith explained: "It is an exciting time to be Bournemouth manager, but I think whether Andoni Iraola stays or goes will depend on how this season goes.
"He might want to move back to Spain and take on European football, if we weren't to make it this season. Hopefully we won't have to think about any of this though - it is a sad thought.
"Bill Foley is a serial winner and surely, as a manager, you would want the owner of your club to be someone like that? He definitely sees the value in Iraola and has provided him with the funds for new players, a recruitment team and everything else.
"It has to be an exciting job for him because he has all the facilities and a good budget.
"The club is still very grateful to have him, even though we are in a period now where there is more expectation from the fans and the board because of the level we are getting to."
A pivotal moment for the Premier Leaguepublished at 17:11 GMT 20 November 2025
17:11 GMT 20 November 2025
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
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One of potentially the biggest moments in English football is coming on Friday, but precious few people understand how important it could be or even know about it.
The Premier League is considering 'anchoring' wages, which would cap the amount any club could spend on their squad at five times the smallest central Premier League broadcasting and prize money payout.
It is a complex argument. The league and some clubs are considering it because they want to ensure wage inflation does not continue to rise endangering their long-term financial security. From the other side - the players and their union, the PFA - this unnaturally limits the amount they can earn in what has until now been a free and open market.
Any changes to that position foisted upon the players without their prior consultation and agreement will not go down well. Remember, the players are the people that the paying public, the TV companies and the advertisers want to see, not a bunch of chairmen, executives and directors arguing over accounts, dividends and profit margins.
The game has increased the number of games played per season without consulting those who are physically doing it. No studies on how that will affect their health in the short and long term were considered, and so the PFA in England looks like it is finally ready to take a strong stand for its members.
Strike ballots are not unknown, I should know, as chairman of the PFA my name was on the bottom of every ballot paper when we last considered strike action over changes in working conditions. The modern owners may have forgotten, but we had 99% backing from our members.
Owners may think of footballers as ultra wealthy, mercenary, thickos who can easily be controlled - well they thought that last time and they lost.
It is time for serious and meaningful negotiation between equals and not a master and serf attitude from one side towards the other.
Will Semenyo talk 'make a few waves and prick some ears up'?published at 12:41 GMT 20 November 2025
12:41 GMT 20 November 2025
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Bournemouth's hands "may well be tied" regarding Antoine Semenyo's £65m release clause which can be activated during the first two weeks of the January transfer window, believes Bournemouth Echo's Alexander Smith.
The 25-year-old attracted interest from several clubs in the summer transfer window, including Manchester United and Tottenham, but opted to sign a new five-year deal at Vitality Stadium on 1 July.
Since then, he has made a stellar start to the season, scoring six goals and providing three assists in 11 Premier League games.
"[£65m] seems very low," Smith told the Cherries: Unpicked podcast. "It's clearly the figure the club felt needed to be included in Semenyo's contract for him to even sign a new deal in the summer.
"It will be a bargain for whoever ends up coming in for him.
"We are getting towards the end of November, the festive games are coming up and January isn't too far away, so I wonder if this is all part and parcel of his agent getting the word out there, trying to make a few waves and prick some ears up."
Champions Liverpool have been linked with a January move for the Ghana forward in recent days and Smith says the nature of his release clause adds an extra element into negotiations.
"The release clause coming back in force again next summer is interesting," he said. "Bournemouth are going to have to weigh up whether it's worth letting him go in January and bringing some extra cash in or whether it's worth keeping him and potentially finishing higher up the table, which would bring some cash in.
"Their hands may well be tied, but his relationship with the club could potentially become a factor for him sticking around. He seems to really love it so there won't be a sense of him being desperate to leave.
"However if Liverpool come in for him and they are willing to meet his release clause plus to match or better his current wage, it's going to be awfully enticing.
"From Bournemouth's point of view, they could get one or two players that can cover multiple positions in their forward line with the money.
"It could be a busy January window if he does leave."
Cherries at World Cup could be more than previous 22 editions put togetherpublished at 12:40 GMT 20 November 2025
12:40 GMT 20 November 2025
Mark Mitchener BBC Sport senior journalist
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As Scotland's celebrations of their first World Cup qualification since 1998 continued into Tuesday night, Bournemouth fans could be forgiven for expressing concern for winger Ben Gannon-Doak.
The 20-year-old had left Scotland's final qualifier on a stretcher with an apparent hamstring injury, though he was later seen up on his feet and joining in with the celebrations.
Antoine Semenyo, Tyler Adams and Justin Kluivert also withdrew from or left their countries' training camps because of injuries.
So, less than a fortnight after briefly having his entire first-team squad available, head coach Andoni Iraola may have to shuffle his pack for Saturday's game against West Ham.
However, the 2026 World Cup will potentially have more Cherries players involved than all of the previous 22 editions of the tournament put together.
Striker Colin Clarke broke new ground in 1986 when he became the first Bournemouth player to be called up to a World Cup squad, playing and scoring for Northern Ireland, while Gerry Peyton was the Republic of Ireland's back-up goalkeeper in 1990.
It was then a long wait until 2022 for Cherries representation, with Chris Mepham and Kieffer Moore taking their places in Wales' first World Cup squad since 1958.
But at least double that number are likely to be involved next year, even if Wales and other sides do not make it through the play-offs.
As for the teams that have already qualified, having started both of the past two qualifiers, Gannon-Doak and Ryan Christie are surely already on the plane with Scotland if fit, as are Semenyo (Ghana) and Adams (USA).
Sitting in the departure lounge, with a reasonable hope of selection if not 100% guaranteed, are Kluivert (Netherlands), Marcos Senesi (Argentina) and Amine Adli (Morocco).
Waiting in the standby line on possible call-ups for now are Alex Scott (who failed to make it off the England bench this week), Julian Araujo (Mexico), Julio Soler (Argentina), Daniel Jebbison (Canada) and Alex Paulsen (New Zealand).
If Hamed Traore (Ivory Coast) and Luis Sinisterra (Colombia) make it to the World Cup, they may well no longer even nominally be Bournemouth players by then, if the obligation-to-buy clauses in their season-long loans are triggered before the tournament.
Bournemouth 'weren't in any sort of trouble' after summer exitspublished at 10:27 GMT 20 November 2025
10:27 GMT 20 November 2025
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Bournemouth Echo's Alexander Smith says there was "never any sense of panic" at Vitality Stadium despite Andoni Iraola losing five of his mainstay players in a busy summer transfer window after the club's record-breaking 2024-25 season.
Speaking on the Cherries: Unpicked podcast about how the club are coping without their big names, Smith said: "Beyond the Bournemouth bubble, people were saying the club were going to struggle and it was going to be tough, but within the bubble there was never any sense of panic.
"I didn't think the club would make this good of a start to the season, but I did think they would make a solid start.
"I didn't feel they were in any sort of trouble after the summer transfer window because they did well in terms of incomings and outgoings.
"Obviously, they had some headline departures, but they were good at moving on squad players and getting cash for those who weren't really involved last season.
"The club recruited well and it looked like they had replaced all the players they had lost - maybe not like-for-like but certainly in the positions they needed.
"So I was cautiously optimistic going into this season, and going on an eight-game unbeaten run early on was excellent and beyond expectations.
"The last two results [a 3-1 defeat by Manchester City and a 4-0 defeat by Aston Villa] have possibly brought the team back down to reality. They need to pick their levels up again after this international break."
Unal had 'many dark moments' during lengthy injury spellpublished at 16:57 GMT 19 November 2025
16:57 GMT 19 November 2025
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Bournemouth forward Enes Unal says he wants to "find the love for playing football again" and "help the lads" after returning to full squad training during the November international break following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The 28-year-old joined the Cherries on loan from Getafe in January 2024 before signing a four-year contract in May 2024 - but has since gone on to make just 35 appearances, scoring four goals and contributing four assists.
"It has been a tough couple of years with my two ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] injuries and one broken toe," Unal told the club's social media, external channels. "It feels great to be back with the team and to feel like a football player.
"As a person, I like to be positive and I like to tell myself that I'm always good but, when I look back on this situation, it was not good and I had many dark moments.
"But I kept growing as a human. I tried to focus on many different aspects of life and on myself as well, so in that sense it has been a blessing in disguise.
"At some points I was staying with my family, who are amazing, so I was really lucky that I wasn't alone in this process.
"I want to find the love for playing football again because I haven't felt that for a long time. I'm at the stage in my career where it is a day-by-day process, so I just want to have fun and be healthy.
"I just want to push myself to the limit and help the lads now because they are doing amazing.
"Now we are here, let's see how good I can play again."
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is set to talk to the media before Saturday's match against West Ham on Friday, where it is expected he will give an update on Unal's return.
Who is flying? And what do you want more of?published at 08:53 GMT 19 November 2025
08:53 GMT 19 November 2025
Tom Jordan Fan writer
Which player is flying?: Antoine Semenyo. You cannot get away from the hype around Semenyo right now and it is justly deserved. Six goals and three assists in the Premier League so far for the Cherries wide man says it all.
Which player is floundering?: Justin Kluivert. It may feel a tad harsh on Justin but last campaign, he hit double figures for goals, whereas he currently just has the one to his name. Sure, he will find his form once more but Kluivert is struggling to nail down a place in the Bournemouth starting XI.
Tactically I think we… astute. Right now, I believe Andoni has his Cherries side incredibly well set up tactically. There's a real philosophy which centres around an aggressive press, high intensity and energy.
I want my manager to give me more of… Ryan Christie. Ryan was last season's player of the season but is currently finding it difficult to force his way into the side, following a pre-season injury. I feel as though we need to find a way to get Christie and his energy back into the team.
Our fans seem obsessed with…removing Marcus Tavernier from the starting line-up. It is somewhat to be expected given the alternative options, but he is a regular for a reason. His off-the-ball work, versatility and energy is exactly what Iraola wants from his players.
Instead, they should be thinking… how crucial the current fringe players could well become. Last season saw a drop-off with the side seemingly running out of legs. The fact we have an abundance of quality struggling for minutes right now is a positive. It is a long old season and they will all play their part.
My expectations were… a 14th-placed finish and steering clear of any relegation chatter. Now however, I'm dreaming of sneaking a European place.
Score so far: A strong 9/10 for me!
How I'm feeling right now: Pleasantly surprised with how well the club have adapted to losing key players, and I am excited about what's to come.
