Premier League side Bournemouth play host to Championship outfit Bristol City in a behind-closed doors pre-season friendly at Canford Magna Training Ground on Saturday afternoon.

The Cherries and the Robins meet for the first time since April 2022 when the former claimed a 3-2 home win over the latter en route to securing promotion from the second tier.

Match preview

Bournemouth enjoyed a successful 2024-25 Premier League season, exceeding expectations by accumulating a club-record 56 points and winning a club-record 15 of their 38 games to secure a ninth-placed finish - matching their best ever top-flight position.

The Cherries did slip away from European contention in the latter stages of the season, though, and head coach Andoni Iraola is hoping to build a squad capable of fighting for a top-seven finish in the 2025-26 campaign, one that must cope without Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez who were sold earlier this summer.

Bournemouth kick-started their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 victory over Scottish side Hibernian in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the club’s Performance Centre on Tuesday, courtesy of goals from Philip Billing and Romain Faivre.

The Cherries, who have won each of their last four competitive encounters with Bristol City, will follow up Saturday’s friendly against the Robins with a trip to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series in which they will face Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United.

Iraola and co will then return to the Vitality Stadium to take on La Liga side Real Sociedad in their final friendly fixture, before travelling to Anfield to face reigning Premier League champions Liverpool in the opening game of the 2025-26 season on August 15.

A promising 2024-25 season ended in disappointing fashion for Bristol City, who secured their highest Championship finish (sixth) in a decade before suffering a heavy 6-0 aggregate defeat to Sheffield United in the playoff semi-finals.

The Robins have since parted ways with head coach Liam Manning, who has made the switch to boyhood club Norwich City, and have appointed former Barnsley, Red Bull Salzburg and FC Koln boss Gerhard Struber on a three-year contract.

Struber has acknowledged that he is "not a dreamer", but the 48-year-old has arrived at Ashton Gate with high expectations and believes that his new side are “ready for the next step”, with four new signings having already arrived so far this summer.

Bristol City’s first-team squad have been put through their paces during a week-long pre-season training camp in Portugal, which will conclude with a behind-closed-doors friendly against local opposition.

The Robins will then follow up Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth with friendlies against Newport County, Cheltenham Town, Plymouth Argyle and Real Valladolid before aiming to gain revenge over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in their first fixture of the 2025-26 Championship season on August 9.

Bournemouth pre-season form:

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Team News

Bournemouth’s summer signing Adrien Truffert made his first appearance for the club against Hibs, while fellow Frenchman Eli Junior Kroupi - a January arrival who was loaned to Lorient in the second half of last season - was also given his first run-out for the Cherries, and both could feature again against Bristol City.

New goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic - a £25m signing from Chelsea on Wednesday - may also be involved this weekend along with the likes of Evanilson, Justin Kluivert, Lewis Cook, Marcos Senesi and goalkeeper Neto, who has returned from a loan at Arsenal last season.

Star attacker Antoine Semenyo, who signed a new five-year contract last month, is in contention to face his former club where he made over 100 appearances before joining Bournemouth for £10m in January 2023.

As for Bristol City, Max O’Leary did not travel to the Algarve for pre-season training and remained in Bristol to receive treatment on an ankle injury.

Joe Williams (ankle) and Luke McNally (knee) are also sidelined, but they were able to continue their rehabilitation in Portugal, while Max Bird will follow an individual programme after sustaining a calf injury.

Emil Riis, Adam Randell, Joe Lumley and Yu Hirakawa have all joined the Robins permanently this summer, the latter spent last season on loan, and the quartet are in contention to feature in some capacity this weekend.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Neto; Smith, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Cook, Billing; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

Lumley; McCrorie, Dickie, Vyner, Pring; Randall, Knight; Yu, Twine, Mehmiti; Riis

We say: Bournemouth 3-1 Bristol City

Both Bournemouth and Bristol City are keen to make positives start to their pre-season campaigns, but if the Cherries are to field a relatively strong lineup, then they should have enough to get the better of the Robins.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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