'You can see the aim of learning' – Bournemouth's Senesi reflects on new-look defence

Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi revealed his joy at how his new defensive team-mates have integrated into the squad after a busy summer transfer window.

Ahead of their fixture against Fulham on Friday, Bournemouth are currently sixth in the Premier League with 11 points after six games.

Andoni Iraola's defence underwent some major changes during the break, with Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez all joining Champions League teams for the 2025-26 campaign.

The Cherries subsequently bolstered their backline with the additions of Bafode Diakite, Adrien Truffert, Alex Jimenez and Veljko Milosavljevic.

Senesi believes Bournemouth's new additions have already shown plenty of promise, and insists there were no communication issues due to language barriers.

"I think they have come into the squad and done well, they have settled well, and that’s the main thing and the most important," Senesi told the club website.

"You can see the aim of learning. They want to get better and do better. From that starting point, you can achieve anything. I am really happy with the way they have got into the group and how they are performing.

"But all of them seem to be good guys, people who want to learn and want to improve, and that's the main thing. The language won't be a barrier.

"It has been easy, all of them speak English besides Alex. But I can speak to him in Spanish and so can Julio [Soler]."

Fulham, meanwhile, could travel to the Vitality Stadium without a recognised striker after Raul Jimenez was forced off with an injury in their defeat to Aston Villa, which Rodrigo Muniz missed with a muscle problem.

Marco Silva resorted to playing Adama Traore through the middle, but does not see that as a long-term solution.

"Losing Raul had a massive impact on ourselves; without Rodrigo Muniz," Silva explained. "Everything is much more difficult after.

"Adama tried, it's true he is a different style. We're much more of a team who likes to link with our striker in a different way.

"Adama, this is not his profile, but it's up to me and to us to find different solutions with a different profile of striker."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo

Eight of Bournemouth's last 15 Premier League goals have been scored by Antoine Semenyo, with the Ghanaian netting a free-kick against Leeds United last time out.

Since the start of April, only Erling Haaland and Jarrod Bowen (nine each) have netted more than Semenyo's eight.

Fulham – Alex Iwobi

With Jimenez and Muniz both potentially missing out for Fulham, Alex Iwobi's creativity could be pivotal for the Cottagers.

Iwobi has provided two assists so far this season, as well as one goal, but all three of his direct goal contributions have come in home matches.

MATCH PREDICTION – BOURNEMOUTH WIN

Bournemouth have lost just two of their last 16 league meetings with Fulham (W8 D6), and just one of their last eight (W3 D4), going down 3-1 in February 2024.

The Cherries lost four consecutive home Premier League matches between February and April, but since then have picked up 14 points in their last seven at the Vitality Stadium (W4 D2 L1), keeping four clean sheets.

Each of Bournemouth's last three Premier League goals have come via set pieces (penalty, direct free-kick and indirect free-kick), with only four of their previous 32 coming from such situations. The Cherries last had four consecutive league goals from set pieces in March 2024 (four corners vs Sheffield United and Luton Town).

Silva won his first away Premier League match at Bournemouth as Everton boss in August 2017 (2-0), but since then has won just one point in five at the Vitality, losing the last four in a row.

Fulham have lost each of their last three Premier League visits to Bournemouth, while they could lose four successive away league games against the Cherries for the first time.

Fulham scored first but lost 3-1 away at Aston Villa last time out; the Cottagers have now lost four of their last seven league games when scoring the opener (W3). In the last two seasons, no side has lost more games when scoring first than Fulham (seven).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bournemouth – 50.6%

Draw – 25%

Fulham – 24.4%