Bournemouth’s Collapse: Why the Cherries Could be in Trouble Over the Festive Period

Bournemouth’s start to the season was simply a continuation of the strong form that catapulted them to their highest ever top-flight finish last term. After entering November sitting pretty in second in the Premier League table, Bournemouth now find themselves 11th after a four-match winless run.

In a torrid month for the Cherries, they conceded more in those four games in November (12) than they did across the nine Premier League games prior(11).

We look at why Bournemouth have lost form, and how their tricky schedule over the festive period could see them slip even further down the table. 

Bournemouth’s Defensive Record in November Makes For Grim Reading

A key reason as to why Bournemouth had such a strong start to the season was their defence.

Despite the summer departures of Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Illia Zabarnyi to Paris Saint Germain, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, and Kepa choosing to join Arsenal, they conceded just 11 goals in their first nine games.

The early season performances from new signings Adrian Truffert, Bafode Diakite, Veljko Milosavlijevic, and goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic led to genuine optimism that Bournemouth could finish in the Champions League places just a few weeks ago.

Fast forward to the beginning of December, and the defence has transformed into the root cause of their decline.

Bournemouth’s Results in November
Date	Opponent	Score
02/11	Manchester City (A)	3-1 loss
09/11	Aston Villa (A)	4-0 loss
22/11	West Ham (H)	2-2 draw
29/11	Sunderland (A)	3-2 loss

The 12 goals they have conceded in their last four games now means that only the bottom four – Leeds, West Ham, Burnley and Wolves – have conceded more goals in the league this season.

Petrovic’s performances, in particular, have come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after fans felt that the Serbian could have done better with Callum Wilson’s opener in their 2-2 draw with West Ham, and Bertrand Traore’s equaliser in their 3-2 loss to Sunderland.

If Bournemouth are going to turn around their fortunes, they need their defence to tap into the kind of form we witnessed across large swathes of last season, and the start of this campaign.

Bournemouth’s Away Record

Though their poor run of form is recent, Bournemouth’s away record has been an issue throughout the campaign. The Cherries have won just one of their seven away days so far this season.

Bournemouth’s Away Form 2025/26
Opponent	Score
Liverpool	4-2
Tottenham Hotspur	0-1
Leeds United	2-2
Crystal Palace	3-3
Manchester City	3-1
Aston Villa	4-0
Sunderland	3-2

If Bournemouth want to realise their continental dreams, they must find a way to flip their fortunes away from the Vitality Stadium.

Over 70 percent of their points have come at home, and three away trips in four games throughout November was far from ideal.

Iraola will no doubt have identified upcoming home fixtures against Everton and Burnley as winnable games in December.

Bournemouth Need Evanilson to be Better

Bournemouth’s club record signing had a promising start to his time in England after scoring 10 Premier League goals last season, but he has scored just one league goal this campaign. The Brazilian’s desperation to add to his tally was on full display this weekend when he tapped in a goal-bound shot at the Stadium of Light, only for him to be ruled offside. 

This only prompted more criticism towards the club’s number 9, which was already significant as his main competitor for the starting role, Eli Junior Kroupi, has three more league goals than Evanilson in half the minutes played.

With eight league games in the next five weeks, there would be no better time for the former Porto man to find some form.

Bournemouth’s Gruelling Festive Schedule 

The festive period of games is typically viewed as the ‘make or break’ part of the campaign, with a gruelling condensed calendar weighing heavy on even the deepest squads in the league.

The eight Premier League gameweeks between December 2nd and January 8th will push many squads to their limits, and Bournemouth’s schedule during that time isn’t pleasant reading for their fans.

Bournemouth’s Next Eight League Games
Date	Opponent	Home or away?
02/12	Everton	Home
06/12	Chelsea	Home
15/12	Manchester United	Away
20/12	Burnley	Home
27/12	Brentford	Away
30/12	Chelsea	Away
03/01/26	Arsenal	Home
07/01/26	Tottenham	Home

During that run, Andoni Iraola’s men host the three best performing away teams so far this season in Chelsea, Spurs, and Arsenal. They themselves also travel to Stamford Bridge to face second-place Chelsea for the second time within a month. 

They also have to travel to Brentford, who have made the Gtech Community Stadium a fortress under Keith Andrews. The Bees have picked up 16 of their 19 points at home and have only lost to Manchester City in their seven home matches.

Couple that with Bournemouth’s poor away record and it looks set to be a far tougher game than it looks on paper.

Can Bournemouth Turn Their Form Around?

Bournemouth fans will no doubt be frustrated after such a positive start to the season, but they do have a great asset. Manager Andoni Iraola is one of the best tacticians in the league and is even in line to be the next Manchester United manager, should Ruben Amorim be sacked. 

Iraola has consistently managed to maximise the performances from the players at his disposal and that looks set to be required in order to keep their European hopes above water.