Tottenham Hotspur vs. Bournemouth: Match Preview, Projected Lineups & Predictions

The fight continues. Tottenham Hotspur had another needed league win last weekend against Aston Villa, but Leicester City's hot form has Spurs needing a win to just stay within five points of the league leaders. Things have simplified for Spurs, as the team's midweek loss to Borussia Dortmund took the team out of Europa League. The Premier League as the only competition Spurs remain in, as the team will need nearly perfect form in its last eight games if Tottenham hopes to win the league. The biggest question may come in the centerbacks, as Kevin Wimmer and Toby Alderweireld have played an enormous quantity of minutes as Jan Vertonghen has recovered from his long term injury.

Spurs host a Bournemouth team that arrives to White Hart Lane in 13th place, an impressive 13 points above the drop. Manager Eddie Howe's team have been very impressive in their first ever appearance in the English first division, posting identical records playing both home and away. There are goals in this Cherries team even after losing star striker Callum Wilson early in the season, as Joshua King, Benik Afobe, and Matt Ritchie have picked up the slack. Artur Boruc remains the crazy goalie he always was for Bournemouth, Charlie Daniels is a threat to attack from left back, and right back Adam Smith will be excited to make a return to White Hart Lane after leaving the team in 2011.

Can Spurs get a needed home win to keep pace with red hot Leicester City? We shall see.

How to Watch

Date/time: Sunday, March 20, 2016, 4:00 p.m.. (UK), 12:00 p.m. ET (USA)
Venue: White Hart Lane, London, UK
Official: Neil Swarbrick
TV: Not Televised (Premier League Extra Time Channels only) (USA), Not Televised (UK), Sportsnet World (Canada), Fox Sports 1 (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also BBC Radio London and TalkSport

Projected Lineup

Repetition. Tottenham Hotspur seem likely to stick with their first choice lineup against Bournemouth, as Mauricio Pochettino again rested top players like Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele, and Kyle Walker in the midweek game against Borussia Dortmund. The biggest doubt is likely in the midfield, as it would not be a surprise to see Son Heung-Min start over Erik Lamela. Worth noting, Tottenham will be thinner at left back with Ben Davies out from his midweek concussion.

Prediction League

As for the Prediction League, Mechanick responded to Matthew's perfect prediction last week with a perfect prediction on the Aston Villa match, tightening things at the top. The rules remain the same in the Prediction League -- one point for a correct prediction and a bonus point for getting the score correct. Here are the current standings:

Dustin Menno: IT’S A TRAAAAAAAAAAAP no actually it’ll be fine. Bournemouth are (essentially if not mathematically) safe from relegation, which makes them decent, but not backed-into-a-corner dangerous. Spurs should take this one fairly comfortably. 3-0 Spurs

Skipjack: Gonna go full Bryan. 2-2 Draw

Ben Daniels: Bournemouth have been in sneaky good form in 2016, and they have the best right back in the league in Adam Smith. But we're still much better. 2-0 Spurs

55thVin: Spurs will be able to unload a bit of frustration in this match. Harry, Christian, Mousa, and Kyle will all be fresh and Danny Rose should be brimming with confidence after a good showing Thursday against Dortmund. The Cherries have been playing well enough, but I see us being too much in the end and running them over. 2-0 Spurs

Luke Zimmerman: Spurs take all their post BVB frustrations out on a poor, hapless Bournemouth side. 4-1 Spurs. See you in hell, Callum Wilson.

Earl of Shoop: Someone has to pay for our Europa dismantling. Sorry, Eddie Howe and Co. Cherry jokes are all gross so I'll just say Spurs 3-1

Matt Pachniuk: Like Gandalf's battle with the Balrog, otherwise known as the Battle of the Peak for those scoring at home, Spurs will rise from certain death and morph into an even more formidable foe.  Spurs 3-1

Jake Meador: Given Bournemouth's form and the fact that this is at the Lane so they'll likely sit a little deeper, I'm really nervous about this match. We win on xG, but the final is a 1-1 Draw

GN Punk: Fun Fact! Did you know that AFC Bournemouth have the third most points accumulated since December 1? While they aren't exactly going gangbusters on everyone, they're playing better than they were when we went to the Vitality Stadium for the first fixture. It isn't going to be 5-1 this time around, but Spurs are looking to take some frustration out. I like Eddie Howe and all, but they're the ones that must be sacrificed to the football gods. Spurs 3-1

Brian Mechanick: I'm a bit worried that Bournemouth are going to completely bunker in a tough away game at Spurs, and I think Spurs could be worn out ahead of an international break. This game screams trap, but I think Kane proves the difference. 1-0 Spurs

Ed F.: Bournemouth are sort of a weird beast this season. They spent loads of cash injecting quality into the squad over summer to avoid the struggle to stay up most anticipated them to have this year, and they have subsequently had a pretty good campaign- but they've only patchily made use of said expensive new players in doing so, with lots of their starring players from their Championship winning side contributing more? I'm pleased for Eddie Howe though. What was I meant to be talking about again? Oh yeah. 2-1 Spurs.

Bryan Ashlock: At this point, I'm just playing out the string on this pessimism shtick because bad things happen when we're all optimistic. As such, Spurs choke on a cherry pit and former Arsenal player Benick Afobe scores twice. 2-1 Bournemouth