Bournemouth host Sturm Graz in their first ever home European fixture on Thursday night. The UEFA Europa League League Stage match kicks off at 8pm at the Vitality Stadium, a landmark moment for the club.
Extra tickets have been released and significant safety preparations are in place for the historic game. An additional 500 seats are on sale, with the club anticipating its highest home attendance since the stadium was reconfigured in 2001. Mounted police and extra officers will be on duty, with specific plans in place for potential pyrotechnics and visiting ultras.
Team form and context
Bournemouth enter the match 18th in the Premier League standings with just three points from six games, having lost 5-1 at Chelsea last Saturday. Christie suggested the heavy defeat could be used as motivation. "Cherries can use Chelsea thumping like Bees defeat to spark turnaround," the midfielder said. The team's difficult start has seen them concede 16 goals in those six league matches, a defensive record they will be desperate to improve upon in Europe.
Sturm Graz, who finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga last season, began their Europa League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Rennes. They lost five of their eight league phase games in the competition last season. The Austrian side, who dropped out of Champions League qualifying, won 2-0 against Austria Vienna last weekend and typically line up in a 3-4-2-1 formation featuring recent signing Simon Seidl. Their coach, Christian Ilzer, has emphasised the need for a compact defensive performance away from home.
Injury news and outlook
Justin Kluivert, Amine Adli and Veljko Milosavljevic are all likely to return from injury for Bournemouth, which will be a welcome boost for manager Marco Rose. Alex Scott, Junior Kroupi and Julián Araujo remain unavailable. Former manager Harry Redknapp has publicly backed current boss Marco Rose to improve the team's fortunes. "I have no doubt Marco Rose will turn Cherries form around," Redknapp said.
Sturm Graz will be without several players including Leon Grgic, Emran Soglo and Otar Kiteishvili, who is a significant creative absence in midfield. Bournemouth's top scorer this season is Tavernier with three goals, according to the club's stats data. Rose has stated that the European nights are a reward for the club's progress and that the squad must embrace the challenge while maintaining focus on their domestic form.
