Match Preview: Brentford v Bournemouth | OneFootball

Brentford welcome Bournemouth to Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday in the Premier League (3pm kick-off GMT).

The Bees are looking to preserve their unbeaten home record, while Andoni Iraola’s Cherries beat champions Manchester City last time out.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the meeting in west London.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Arsenal and Man City wins see Bournemouth eyeing top-half finish

With a new man at the helm - and after a season where they finished only five points above the relegation zone - Bournemouth were predicted to have a rocky season in 2023/24. Many had their card marked as one of the favourites to make a swift return to the Championship.

For the first three months, it looked as though those predictions would turn out to be correct, with the Cherries sat 18th just over a year ago, on 4 November, after a 6-1 humbling away at Man City and with just one win under their belts.

It proved to be the kick up the backside they needed and led to a run of six wins and one draw in the next seven, which propelled them to the cusp of the top half. The start of the year was a tad rough, but Andoni Iraola’s men regained stability.

Despite the fact they closed the season with three straight defeats – to Arsenal, Brentford and Chelsea - they had already matched their records for most wins in a Premier League season (13) and fewest defeats (16), as well as recording their joint-second highest finish (12th) and, most notably, achieving a new record Premier League points tally of 48.

Dominic Solanke’s 21-goal haul played a key role in the Cherries’ success last term – and it was only a matter of time before he moved on as a result. On 10 August, he joined Tottenham as the long-awaited replacement for Harry Kane for a reported fee of £55 million, which represented a healthy profit of around £38 million, five years after he was signed from Liverpool.

It’s not too much of a stretch to say his presence has not been hugely missed, given how well Bournemouth have started the season.

They drew the first two against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, then stunned Everton before the September international break. Sean Dyche’s side were leading 2-0 after 86 minutes at Goodison Park, but by the sixth minute of injury time, they trailed 3-2 after goals from Antoine Semenyo, Lewis Cook and Luis Sinisterra.

Defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool followed, but since the end of September, Iraola’s side have been on a climb that has taken them to eighth going into matchday 11. They beat Southampton and Arsenal, and drew with Aston Villa but, most impressively, beat Man City 2-1 last time out – and deservedly so.

"Apart from the result, I'm very proud of the performance,” said Iraola after that victory last weekend.

“To beat them deservedly is even more difficult and even if we suffered until the end, I think we deserved this one. I've lost so many times against [Pep Guardiola], so you have to enjoy when the day arrives!”

That result means Bournemouth have picked up an average of 1.5 points per game so far this season, which is markedly more than the 1.26 they averaged in 2023/24. There are roughly three-quarters of the season left to play, of course, but if they maintain or better that average, they will be looking at shattering their points record again and achieving a historic first-ever top-half finish.

In the Dugout

Andoni Iraola

A right-back by trade during his playing days, Andoni Iraola came through the ranks at Athletic Bilbao.

He made his debut during the 2003/04 La Liga season, following two years in the Segunda Division with Bilbao’s B team and a year with Basconia – effectively the club’s C team – before that.

Over the 10 seasons that followed his debut year, Iraola astonishingly missed only 26 league games, during which time he was part of the squad that finished as runners-up in the Copa del Rey twice, once in the Europa League and once in the Spanish Super Cup. Between 2008 and 2011, he earned seven senior caps for Spain.

He featured considerably less during 2014/15 - his final season at San Mames – but captained Lehoiak in his final game for the club, in a third Copa del Rey final defeat, this time against Barcelona.

Iraola then signed for New York City of the MLS, where he spent 17 months, before retiring in November 2016.

Just over 18 months later, he was handed his first managerial role with AEK Larnaca, but lasted only until January 2019 after winning 12 of his 29 matches in charge of the Cypriot First Division club.

That summer, he joined CD Mirandés where, in his only season at the club, he masterminded a run to the semi-final of the Copa del Rey for only the second time in the club’s history.

In August 2020, he took over at Rayo Vallecano, whom he led to promotion from the Segunda Division in his first season in charge.

Los Franjirrojos finished 12th in their first season back in La Liga and 11th last term, which led to an approach from Leeds United last February, which was rebuffed by the club’s board.

However, he left at the end of the campaign when his contract expired and joined Bournemouth in June 2023. The 42-year-old signed a new contract in May, which will keep him at the Vitality Stadium until the summer of 2026.

The Gameplan

With Bournemouth Daily Echo’s Alex Smith

Bournemouth Daily Echo’s Alex Smith explains how Andoni Iraola is likely to set up his side at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday:

“Bournemouth play a high-pressure game. They will be looking to get on the front foot and press from the front.

“They tend to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Cook and Ryan Christie as those two midfielders.

“The front four tends to change a bit; Luis Sinisterra and Dango Ouattara may return from injury this weekend, but Semenyo, Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert and Evanilson started the win over Man City.

“There is a lot of pace in that front four and they will try to win the ball in Brentford’s half and turn defence into attack very quickly.

“They are good on the counter attack and will look to play with a ‘high rhythm’, which is a phrase Iraola uses a lot!”

Last Premier League starting XI v Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Travers; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Christie, Cook; Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson

Read our full interview with Alex Smith here

Match Officials

Bond handed second Brentford assignment of the season

Referee: Darren Bond

Assistants: Darren Cann and Mark Scholes

Fourth official: Oliver Langford

VAR: Andy Madley

Darren Bond is set to take charge of his second Brentford game of the season, having officiated the Bees’ 2-1 defeat at Manchester City in September.

He refereed 24 games last term, showing 101 yellow cards and three reds. Bond sent off Sergio Reguilón during the west Londoners’ 2-1 defeat at Burnley.

Last Meeting

Bournemouth 1 Brentford 2 (Premier League, 11 May 2024)

Brentford recorded a dramatic 2-1 win over Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium on their final away day of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Bryan Mbeumo netted his 50th goal for the Bees four minutes before the end of the game, before Yoane Wissa rifled beyond Mark Travers deep into stoppage time to cancel out Dominic Solanke’s equaliser.