Bournemouthvs.Girona

For Girona, the trip to the English South Coast will take place less than 24 hours after they go up against Newcastle United at St James' Park.

Match preview

Bournemouth will head into the 2024-25 campaign with aspirations of building upon the strong foundations laid in Andoni Iraola's first season in charge.

Iraola's side collected 48 points from 38 matches to finish in 12th place and set a new club record for the most points collected in a single top-flight campaign.

The Cherries began their pre-season schedule with a tour of the USA, where they played out 1-1 draws against both Wrexham and Arsenal before they lost out to the latter on penalties.

Bournemouth finally claimed their first win in pre-season in Sunday's home clash against Iraola's former club Rayo Vallecano, with Luis Sinisterra's first-half effort proving enough to claim a narrow 1-0 victory.

The Cherries will now attempt to claim another victory against a La Liga outfit as they look to build momentum ahead of their Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest.

Girona are currently building up for the new La Liga season as well as their first appearance in the Champions League after finishing in third place last term.

The Catalan side collected 81 points from 38 matches to achieve Champions League qualification in just their fourth-ever season in the top flight.

Michel will have his work cut out to replicate that feat in 2024-25, especially as he has seen key players like Aleix Garcia, Artem Dovbyk and Savio leave the club this summer.

However, Girona have added several new faces to their squad, including Ladislav Krejci, Donny van de Beek, Bryan Gil and Abel Ruiz.

Girona experienced a number of underwhelming results in pre-season, drawing against Olot, Montpellier and Espanyol before they lost 4-0 to Toulouse, but they did at least record a much-needed 2-0 win over Napoli in last Saturday's friendly encounter.

Bournemouth friendly form:

Girona friendly form:

D

D

D

L

W

Team News

Bournemouth are unable to call upon Tyler Adams (back), Enes Unal (foot) and David Brooks (shoulder) as the trio continue to recover from their respective surgeries.

Justin Kluivert has not featured in any of Bournemouth's three pre-season matches and will have to be assessed ahead of Saturday's home fixture.

Chris Mepham, Philip Billing, Lewis Cook and Dominic Solanke are also doubts after the quartet sat out the recent win over Rayo.

As for Girona, they are expected to be without Krejci, Gabriel Misehouy, Jhon Solis and Viktor Tsygankov due to injury.

Michel will likely make significant changes to the side that will start Friday's friendly against Newcastle at St James' Park.

Oriol Romeu could be involved in Saturday's fixture after returning to the club on a season-long loan deal from fellow Catalan side Barcelona.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Travers; Smith, Senesi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie, Scott; Semenyo, Sinisterra, Tavernier; Jebbison

Girona possible starting lineup:

Gazzaniga; Martinez, Lopez, Juanpe, Gutierrez; Romeu, Herrera, Roca; Valery, Villa, Stuani

We say: Bournemouth 2-1 Girona

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