Analysing Bournemouth's Premier League run-in - Man Utd, Spurs, Man City to come

After years of punching above their weight in the Premier League, 2019-20 is shaping up to be the season that Bournemouth come crashing back down to earth.

The Cherries have struggled all season long and are in the bottom three at the time of the coronavirus-enforced shutdown.

However, they are level on points with the two sides directly above them and one victory could potentially lift them as high as 15th.

Despite a poor run of results, Eddie Howe remains confident that he can keep Bournemouth in the division should the Premier League be given the green light to resume.

A decision on whether that will be possible is expected to be made soon, and with that in mind Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Bournemouth's remaining nine fixtures.

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Bournemouth were due to host Crystal Palace in their next outing, a fixture that they have taken zero points from in their last two Premier League encounters.

That is one of five remaining home games for the Cherries, most of which - including a huge showdown with rivals Southampton - look winnable on paper against sides averaging a position of 10th in the table.

However, the south coast outfit's underwhelming record at the Vitality Stadium should also be factored in, having won just four out of 14 league games there this term.

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They have been even worse on their travels, collecting 10 points from a possible 45, and their remaining away games look very tough on the face of it.

A trip to high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers is followed up by visits to Manchester United and Manchester City, before finishing off at Everton.

The average position of those sides is sixth, suggesting that Howe's men will find points hard to come by away from the south coast.

Using the results from the corresponding home and away fixtures, meanwhile, Bournemouth are on course to add a further nine points to their tally.

That would give them 36 points in all, which would have been enough to stay above the dotted line in the last three seasons.

Bournemouth's remaining Premier League fixtures

Crystal Palace (h)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
Newcastle United (h)
Manchester United (a)
Tottenham Hotspur (h)
Leicester City (h)
Manchester City (a)
Southampton (h)
Everton (a)