Bournemouth v Fulham: Premier League – live | Premier League
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One change for Bournemouth, with Marcos Senesi replacing Illia Zabarnyi at centre-back. Fulham are unchanged, which is no surprise after their brilliant win over Liverpool last weekend.
This is such an important night for Bournemouth, who have their last four league games at home. They were also beaten by Manchester City in the FA Cup. They have to get something tonight.
Preamble
Look, it’s complicated. It’s always complicated at this time of year. We’re talking, of course, about whether it’s acceptable for a weathered quadragenarian man to wear shorts in a public place European qualification. England will have between eight and 11 teams in Europe next season, and both Bournemouth and Fulham still hope to be among their number.
At this stage it looks more likely than not that eighth place will be good enough to quality for the Conference League. Despite a downturn in form, particularly for Bournemouth, that remains a realistic ambition for both these sides. Fulham start the night in eighth; Bournemouth will leapfrog them if they win.
The focus on the rich and famous makes it easy to lose sight of what a big deal it would be to qualify. Bournemouth have never played in Europe; the last time Fulham did so, in 2011, Martin Jol was their manager, Ryan Sessegnon was 11 years old and Willian wa- actually, Willian already a Brazil international, because he was playing top-level football before the electric light was invented. But you get the point.
