AFC Bournemouth welcome Everton to Dean Court under the lights this evening, with both sides looking to bounce back from defeats last time out. With suspensions and injuries plentiful, here is how I feel Andoni Iraola will line up tonight, followed by a match preview:

GK: Djordje Petrovic

Petrovic has not had the best time of it as of late, and will have been very disappointed not to have saved Bertrand Traore’s equaliser on the weekend. But with the only other senior option being Will Dennis, who’s one appearance for the club came almost five years ago, Petrovich’s spot is safe for now.

RB: Alex Jimenez

As I predicted, Iraola went with the more experienced Adam Smith against Sunderland. But it was not Smith’s best outing, and against a team who will be tough to break down, Jimenez’s drive and pace from right back will be important.

CBs: Veljko Milosavjlevic + Bafode Diakite

Marcos Senesi is suspended for this one after picking up five bookings for the campaign, a needless one for dissent as the game was heading for defeat. With him unavailable, the three options at centre back are Milosavjlevic, Diakite and James Hill. Hill hasn’t started a game for two months (the win against Fulham), so I would expect Milo and Diakite to get the nod here.

LB: Adrien Truffert

Truffert’s form has dipped recently, and at some point in the busy festive period I would expect Julio Soler to get some minutes, but I don’t expect that to be quite yet – not from the off anyway.

DM (‘6’): Tyler Adams

Adams scored our goal of the season last time out, a spectacular effort from inside the centre circle. He has been on four bookings for a while, but has kept his discipline recently – he will have to do the same here, or risk having Alex Scott as our only recognised midfielder available for Chelsea. Certainly something to watch out for.

CM (‘8’): Alex Scott

Scott previously got dragged off at halftime for the second week in a row – and if you ask Sunderland fans, was very lucky to stay on the pitch. Regardless of form, Scott is almost guaranteed to start alongside Adams again, with Lewis Cook suspended and Ryan Christie injured.

AM (’10’): Marcus Tavernier

This was a real toss up between Tavernier and Justin Kluivert – but when Tavernier is available, he usually starts, plus Kluivert may not yet be fully fit after injury. Tavernier was extremely unlucky not to have equalised on Saturday after his thunderous effort from outside the area crashed off the bar – he couldn’t have hit it any better.

Wingers: Amine Adli + Antoine Semenyo

It was great to see Adli score his first goal for the club against Sunderland, coming in from the cold after a frustrating time of it since joining in the summer. He was at the centre of most things positive in the first half, including playing a crucial role in Adams’ stunning effort. On the other side, Antoine Semenyo was unlucky not to have two assists – he should’ve had one for Evanilson before Adli scored, and should’ve had another minutes after Sunderland equalised but Evanilson tapped home in an offside position despite Semenyo’s deflected cross being goal-bound.

ST: Junior Kroupi

Evanilson might need a break to reset his mind and hopefully gain some confidence by running at tired defences. Whilst his all round game has still been good, in front of goal he looks so devoid of confidence, which is never good for a striker. He is a clear favourite of Iraola, who might just rest him for this one in order to keep legs fresh ahead of a very busy festive schedule. Enes Unal is likely still not fit enough to start a game, giving Junior Kroupi the tough battle against Michael Keane and James Tarkowski, but there is no reason to believe he will shy away from that challenge given what we have seen from him so far.

Match Preview

As previously stated, both sides will be looking to bounce back in this one after disappointing results at the weekend.

Everton fell to a 4-1 defeat against Newcastle in their new Hill Dickinson stadium – Newcastle having not won away all season. AFCB were 2-0 up at the Stadium of Light, but a disappointing collapse means it’s four without a win for Andoni Iraola’s side.

Both defences looked vulnerable at the weekend, especially from set pieces – so don’t be surprised if you see a goal or two here from a dead ball situation.

Everton were extremely impressive last time on the road, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford despite playing with 10 men for the majority of the match. Idrissa Gana Gueye saw red in that one for slapping his own teammate, Michael Keane, and Gueye remains suspended for this evening’s clash. Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson and Merlin Rohl are all injured.

AFCB will be without Lewis Cook, Marcos Senesi and David Brooks due to suspension, with Ryan Christie and Ben Gannon-Doak missing through injury.

Everton have never won at Dean Court in the Premier League, with David Moyes expressing a desire to finally end that rotten run. Tied in with the fact that AFCB are unbeaten at home in the league this season, the odds look to be in Iraola’s favour.

But Everton are an extremely well drilled side who may have a spring in their step after their disappointing result on the weekend. David Moyes has done a fantastic job since taking over from Sean Dyche in January this year, and I expect a very tough game, perhaps one played with a little edge as both sides look to improve defensively.

PREDICTION: AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Everton