Bournemouth on the up after eight-goal thriller at Man Utd, says Tavernier

Marcus Tavernier believes Bournemouth's performance in their thrilling 4-4 draw against Manchester United shows the team are returning to their early-season form.

Tavernier both scored and assisted in the same Premier League game for the third time, getting both those contributions in the first six minutes of the second half on Monday.

Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha then put the Red Devils 4-3 up before Junior Kroupi netted an 84th-minute equaliser to cap a crazy encounter at Old Trafford.

It was a result that kept Bournemouth down in 13th in the Premier League table, but with lowly Burnley up next, Tavernier is confident a return to winning ways is imminent.

"We ended the game strongly and, if anyone was going to score a winner, it felt like it would be us," he said. "We'll reflect on this performance and see where we can improve.

"There are a lot of positives for us to take, especially against a team that’s in good form. We're starting to perform more like ourselves again, and we know what we're capable of."

That was a sentiment echoed by Bournemouth captain Adam Smith, who believes the Cherries are on an upward trajectory in the Premier League.

"We were ourselves last week against Chelsea, and we were ourselves again, apart from that first 20 minutes," Smith added.

"It's tight margins in these games, but the belief in this group is massive. Hopefully, things will swing our way because if we keep performing like this, good things will come."

Burnley, meanwhile, were involved in an enthralling game of their own at the weekend, but their struggles continued as they fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to Fulham.

Indeed, their defeat means that they remain on 10 Premier League points after 16 games, their second-lowest tally at this stage of a season in any division this century.

But Scott Parker was left to rue several missed opportunities during the contest, also lamenting his team's inability to maintain their defensive focus.

The Clarets are handed just an 11.3% chance of finishing outside the bottom three by the Opta supercomputer, and Parker acknowledged the difficulty of achieving Premier League survival.

"It's an element of concentration and focus. It's a deadly league. One lapse in concentration and nine times out of 10 it's in the back of the net," Parker said.

"There are massive positives from today. The fine margins are what we've been on the wrong end of. The higher level you go in life, it's the finer margins.

"I feel I have a strong group. You can't deny this is a group fully committed together. Human nature tells you it'll take its toll. It's my job to try to lift us up.

"We had a mountain to climb in this league. The mountain isn't huge for us. It's just a tiny bit [we need to fix]."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bournemouth – Junior Kroupi

After going five Premier League games without finding the back of the net, Kroupi scored the final goal in Bournemouth's thrilling draw with United at Old Trafford.

Indeed, 42% of the Premier League goals scored by teenagers this season have been netted by Kroupi (5/12).

Among teenagers in Europe's big five leagues this season, only Lamine Yamal, Yan Diomande and Said El Mala (six each) have netted more often than Kroupi.

Burnley – Zian Flemming

Flemming has scored in his last four away Premier League appearances for Burnley (five goals), the best run by a Clarets player.

He's ended on the losing side in his last three away games despite scoring – no player has ever scored in four away Premier League matches in a row and lost every one.

MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN

Bournemouth did the double over Burnley the last time they met in 2023-24, as many wins as they’d managed in their previous 13 league games against the Clarets (W2 D3 L8).

The Cherries are, however, now winless in their last seven Premier League matches (D3 L4), last having a longer run between May and October 2023 (13 games).

They have also failed to score in each of their last two home Premier League matches – they haven't gone three without a goal since between August and September 2023.

But they will be confident of ending those respective stretches against a Burnley side who have lost their last seven Premier League games.

Defeat here would see them equal the longest-ever losing run in their league history, having lost eight in a row three times previously – from November 1889 to February 1890 (top-flight), March to September 1895 (top-flight) and January to February 1995 (second tier).

However, Burnley have won three of their last four Premier League away games against Bournemouth, although they lost on their last visit, 2-1 in October 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bournemouth – 63.6%

Draw – 19.4%

Burnley – 17%