BOURNEMOUTH are looking to come straight back up to the Premier League but face a tough Brentford side in their Championship play-off semi-final.
The first leg gets underway this evening from the Vitality Stadium on the south coast.
- Start time: 6pm GMT
- TV/Live stream: Sky Sports Main Event
- Bournemouth XI: Begovic, Cook, Kelly, Brooks, Lerma, Solanke, Danjuma, Smith, Carter-Vickers, Pearson, Billing
- Brentford XI: Raya, Jansson, Norgaard, Pinnock, Roerslev, Janet, Jensen, Canos, Fosu, Forss, Toney
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What date is Bournemouth vs Brentford and what time is kick-off?
- Bournemouth take on Brentford on Monday, May 17.
- The Championship play-off semi-final first leg kicks off at 6pm.
- The two sides take to the field at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth.
What TV channel is the match on and can I live stream it?
Bournemouth vs Brentford is being broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event.
Coverage starts at 5.30pm and the Barnsley vs Swansea match is being aired on the same channel straight afterwards.
You can live stream the match on Now TV – via smart TV or the Now TV app.
A Now TV day membership costs £9.99, with a monthly cost at £33.99.
CHERRIES’ BENCH
Travers, Stacey, Mepham, Rico, Wilshere, Riquelme, Anthony, Long, Surridge.
BOURNEMOUTH XI
1 Begovic, 3 Cook (c), 5 Kelly, 7 Brooks, 8 Lerma, 9 Solanke, 10 Danjuma, 15 Smith, 18 Carter-Vickers, 22 Pearson, 29 Billing.
THE TEAMSHEETS ARE IN!
TENTH ATTEMPT
Brentford are featuring in their 10th attempt at the Football League play-offs, and second in as many seasons in the Championship, with only Preston featuring in as many campaigns (also 10).
However, the Bees have never been promoted via the play-offs, with their previous nine attempts the most without winning promotion in the history of the Football League play-offs.
FANS ARE BACK
2,300 fans will be allowed inside the Vitality Stadium tonight!
BACK-TO-BACK
Brentford made it to the Championship play-off final last season, but lost to Fulham.
Frank’s teams’ failure to get promoted saw standout players Said Benrahma move to West Ham and Ollie Watkins to Aston Villa.
But this time, he’ll be hoping his team can go all the way and finally find themselves in the top flight.
And with record breaker Ivan Toney at his disposal, anything is possible!
DANJUMA SPEAKS
Bournemouth ace Arnaut Danjuma dissected the season ahead of tonight’s play-off semi-final in an interview with afcb.co.uk.
The 24-year-old played a massive role in Bournemouth’s success, scoring 15 goals and providing seven assists earning himself a place in the Championship’s team of the season.
He said: “Looking back, I think we have been through a lot of highs and lows.
“I was a little disappointed we dropped back to finish sixth after we had already secured a play-off place and Brentford will be a tough team to beat.
“We have quality and determination and there is a lot of talent in the group. We’ve been performing well recently, although not so well in the past three games so there is still a bit to improve on.
“We were well below our standards in those three games but there were also a lot of games where we put in good performances, especially against the top six.
“We did the double over the champions Norwich and took four points off Watford and Swansea. We won 4-0 at Barnsley and Brentford were the only team in the top six to beat us twice.
“Over the course of the season, we performed well against most of the higher-placed teams and struggled against some of the teams in the lower half.
“Overall, I’m happy we’re in the play-offs. That was our goal once we knew we couldn’t win the title or finish second and our aim now is to win the play-offs and return to the Premier League.”
FINAL FOUR
This will be Bournemouth’s third Football League play-off campaign, winning the fourth-tier play-off final in 2002-03 against Lincoln but going out in the semi-finals in the 2010-11 League One play-offs against Huddersfield Town on penalties after a 4-4 aggregate draw.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bournemouth lost both of their Championship matches against Brentford this season, with the Bees one of only two teams to complete the league double over the Cherries in 2020-21, along with relegated Sheffield Wednesday.
In their 1-0 home defeat to Brentford in April, Bournemouth managed just four shots, their fewest in a home league game all season despite playing the last 40 minutes with an extra man after Bees’ Pontus Jansson was sent off.
GOOD AFTERNOON
And welcome to the live blog for Bournemouth vs Brentford!
Bournemouth host Brentford at the Vitality Stadium in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.
And Jonathan Woodgate’s side are looking to return to the Premier League on the first time of asking.
Brentford, on the other hand, are looking to get promoted to the top division for the first time, whilst righting the wrongs of last season’s play-off final upset at the hands of Fulham.
The home side, however, are coming into tonight’s game off the back of three successive defeats.
Whereas Brentford, are unbeaten in 12 Championship games.
In terms of team news, Junior Stanislas could be passed fit for tonight’s game.
Jack Wilshere could also come into the side, bolstering Woodgate’s midfield.
And for Brentford, boss Thomas Frank has several first-team players missing.
Henrik Dalsgaard, Rico Henry and midfielder Josh Dasilva will all miss out through injury.
And Frenchman Mbuemo could come back into the starting line-up, replacing Sergi Canos.
The teamsheets are due to be released in half an hour, so don’t go anywhere!
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
