Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary for today's Premier League encounter between a struggling Stoke City side and top flight newcomers Bournemouth at the Britannia Stadium. Let's get straight to the team news...
So what to make of Mark Hughes' selection? There's no hiding from the fact that this is the Potters' worst ever start to a Premier League season, and should they fail to win today it will be the first time they will have been winless after seven top-flight games since the 1973/74 season. To try and stop the rot, Hughes has shuffled his pack. Let's have a look at some of the changes...
Hughes is without defender Marc Wilson due to a calf strain, while captain Ryan Shawcross remains on the sidelines with injury. Charlie Adam returns to the midfield after completing a suspension, though Ibrahim Afellay, who is also available after serving a ban, has to make do with a place on the bench. Up front, Jonathan Walters is preferred to Mame Diouf, who has shaken off a hamstring injury, and Peter Crouch, who are both among the substitutes.
KEY MAN Stoke City shocked the footballing world when they announced the capture of former Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan in the summer. The Swiss international was a target for a host of Europe's biggest clubs, but chose, perhaps surprisingly, to move to the Britannia. He bagged an assist on his debut for the Potters in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City in August, and has shown flashes of his ability since, but Stoke fans are still waiting for a big performance from the 23-year-old. Could today be the day? He lines up alongside Marko Arnautovic and Bojan as part of an attacking trio supporting Walters.
Despite the arrival of Shaqiri and fellow high profile new recruits Joselu and Marco van Ginkel, who are both available from the bench today, Stoke have struggled at both ends of the pitch, managing just five Premier League goals - only Newcastle United, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion have scored fewer - while they've allowed 39 shots at their goal, with only Chelsea having faced more with 40. Hardly inspiring numbers for their fans, are they?
One of the Potters major success stories this season, however, has been the form of goalkeeper Jack Butland. The young England international has impressed in recent weeks with a series of fine performances, and a handful of top draw saves that would grace any goalkeeper's showreel. Here he is surveying the Britannia ahead of kick off.
Right, the players are in the tunnel, the weather at the Britannia is near perfect, both sets of fans are buzzing and we're just a few minutes away from kickoff in what promises to be a thriller of an encounter. I can't wait!
Both sets of players are sporting rather fetching red tracksuit tops - or anthem jackets - as they emerge onto the Britannia turf. They're very smart, but I hope the kits don't clash as bad as this.
Mark Hughes is a scary man. The game is just 20 seconds old and he's out his seat and screaming after a throw in he felt should have been his side's is awarded to Bournemouth. Someone is fired up for this one alright.
Bournemouth win a free kick 40 yards from goal in the middle of the pitch. Premier League veteran Sylvain Distin is sent forward and the atmosphere builds, but the ball forward misses everyone and Stoke have a goal kick.
Now Stoke have a free kick after Arnautovic is fouled by Ritchie. It's about 25 yards out and wide on the left. The Potters send Cameron and Wollscheid forward, but Adam's delivery is just two powerful and nobody can reach it.
There's a good pace to this one so far. Those two free kicks - one for each side - the only chances of note. It's clear even this early on though that Stoke are really pushing their full-backs forward, particularly Johnson who is almost playing as a winger.
This does not look good for Bournemouth. Wilson tangles with Wollscheid near the halfway line. It's an innocuous looking tackle, but Wilson is down and clearly in a lot of pain. The physios are on, but this looks like it could be the end of his afternoon. The real worry is that it's even worse than that.
Wilson comes back on, but within a minute of being back on he collapses in a heap without a Stoke man within five yards of him. This looks really bad, his afternoon - at the very least - is over. It appears to be his knee, possibly a ligament problem.
CHANCE! We finally have a chance at the Britannia as Bojan is played in on the right of the Bournemouth area. He bursts forward and aims a shot at the near post that is claimed by Boruc.
Stoke have stepped up a gear. Arnautovic drivers forward from halfway and beats Francis, he swings in a cross but the Cherries defender recovers to turn it behind. The corner comes to nothing, however.
SHOT! Stoke have a free kick on the edge the right edge of the Bournemouth box. It's headed clear as far as Whelan 25 yards out who hammers it back towards goal, with Boruc clumsily turning it behind for another corner.
Stoke are enjoying the bulk of the possession now, but still can't carve out any real chances of note. In fairness, with all the stoppages in the opening 20 minutes its been difficult for either side to find a rhythm. There most recent half chance comes as Arnautovic tries to tee up Walters on the edge of the box but Gosling intercepts.
SHOT! Charlie Adam concedes a daft free kick 30 yards out and Bournemouth line something up. It's taken short to Ritchie, who drills a cannonball of a shot straight down the throat of Butland who does well to hang onto it. That was travelling.
Lovely work from Stoke's enigmatic Austrian forward here. A long pass forward finds Arnautovic on the edge of the area. He gets his head down and powers past his marker to the goaline, before cutting back and laying it on a plate for Walters, who can't miss, prodding home from inside six yards. All about Arnautovic's determination and skill that.
Half chance. Sort of, anyway, but it's as close as the visitors have come so far. A Francis cross from the right finds Murray, who rises highest to meet the ball but mistimes his header slightly leaving Butland an easy save. An encouraging sign for Howe's side though, who are second best at the moment.
We have yet another stoppage at the Britannia as Arnautovic goes down. He was grappling with Surman for the ball, but the problem appears to be that he jarred his knee after getting his studs caught in the turf. I'd be shocked if there's less than nine minutes added on here.
Shaqiri, who has been fairly anonymous so far, almost plays Walters in with a sublime reverse pass. That's a little snapshot of the man's quality. Stoke fans will be hoping for more of that as this game goes on.
A thumping Distin challenge on Walters on halfway tees up a Bournemouth attack down the left. It's the full-back Charlie Daniels who has the ball with two men to aim for in the box, but he can't pick his cross and Stoke concede a corner. Distin stays back for this one, perhaps feeling the tackle a bit in those ageing knees, and it's the right call as its easily cleared.
CHANCE! Oh my word this game should be level, and Stoke have Erik Pieters to thank for the fact its not. Pugh mugs Johnson of the ball and skips off towards goal, laying it off to Tomlin who has the goal at his mercy. Unselfishly he moves the ball on to Ritchie who is six yards out with the whole goal to aim at. He shoots, and thinks he's scored, but out of nowhere Pieters flies in and gets the block. Superb defending.
As predicted, we have nine minutes added on here. Ritchie is still shaking his head. He, and everyone else inside the Britannia except Pieters, has no idea how this game isn't level.
Bournemouth enjoying some good possession in the final minutes of the first half. Cameron's rushed clearance from Gosling's cross yields another corner, but it doesn't beat the Stoke man on the near post.
Shaqiri gives away a silly free kick wide left on the edge of the Stoke box. Daniels swings it in, but it evades everyone. The set piece delivery from both sides has been unbelievably poor here in the first half. The Cherries have had real chances with dead ball situations, but just can't find the ball to unlock the Stoke defence.
Stoke concede another daft free kick as Adam hauls down Pugh 35 yards from goal in the middle of the pitch. Like the one earlier, its tapped short to Ritchie who unleashes another shot that catches a Stoke man in the wall and goes behind for a corner. Yet again, they fail to beat the first man with the delivery to groans from the away fans.
Odd end to the first half here as Shaqiri pulls up with what appears to be a hamstring problem. The physio comes on but puzzlingly he waves them away. The game is about to restart when the Swiss winger simply walks off the pitch and sits down on the Stoke bench, to Mark Hughes' total amazement. After a few moments of head scratching, Shaqiri is back on, for now.
CHANCE! What a counter attack as Arnautovic surges up the pitch breaking quickly from a Bournemouth corner, he plays in Pieters down the left who swings his cross quickly into Arnautovic, but the Austrian forward can only stab it inches wide of goal. Great move.
What a frantic end to that first half, and what an odd afternoon at the Britannia. From a very slow opening 20 minutes as result of the terrible injury to Wilson to a chaotic final 15 minutes, this game has had all sorts.
Bournemouth may go in a goal down at half time, and without Wilson, but they've shown signs they could still get something from this. Ritchie really should have levelled the game when presented with a golden opportunity by Tomlin, and as good as Pieters' block was, he shouldn't have been given the chance to make it. Ritchie will not want to see that again.
However, Arnautovic - who has been the best player on the pitch by some way - could have put Stoke two ahead in the final seconds of the half after leading a stampede of a counter attack down field. Bournemouth definitely need to improve their delivery from set pieces as Stoke's clumsy tackling is handing them chance after chance, but they've all been wasted so far, which will no doubt be an annoyance to Howe.
For Stoke its a case of eliminating their indiscipline. You get the feeling that sooner or later Bournemouth will do something with one of the free kicks or corners they've been handed so far, so Hughes will be telling his players to cut out the silly fouls.
At this point I would say lets take a look at the other half times, but the injury to Wilson means we're a long way behind the other 3 pm kickoffs here. But let's check the scores anyway. Arsenal lead Leicester 2-1, Liverpool are ahead 1-0 at Anfield against Aston Villa, Manchester United are 2-0 up against Sunderland, Southampton lead Stoke City 1-0 and West Ham and Norwich City are level at 1-1.
SUBSTITUTION The players are back out for the second half here and I can now confirm that Ibrahim Afellay did replace Shaqiri in the confusion at the end of the first half.
Johnson breaks down the right and his cross strikes Francis. There's some half-hearted appeals for handball against the Bournemouth man, but there's nothing there and Lee Mason waves the game on.
There's a bit of news on Wilson. He went straight to the medical centre at the Britannia Stadium after being stretchered off, and has reappeared with a big brace on his knee. It does indeed appear to be ligament damage, which is not good news for Bournemouth fans.
For the first time this afternoon, Ritchie beats the first man with a corner. However, it's headed away by a Stoke man, but knocked straight back into the area where it falls to Murray, who plucks the ball out of the air with a swivelling volley that Butland is bravely out to smother. The offside flag is raised against Murray anyway, but the Stoke goalkeeper wasn't to know that. Smart save.
Arnautovic is caught in possession the edge of his own box by Francis, who swings a first time cross in to Murray, but the Bournemouth sub is penalised for a push on Butland, prompting a little bit of handbags which referee Lee Mason quickly puts an end to.
CHANCE! Adam bursts forward from the halfway line, outpacing the Cherries back line. He eyes the run of Bojan towards the back post, and dinks a cross towards the former Barcelona forward with the outside of his right boot, but there's just a bit too much on it and the ball runs out for a goal kick. It was the right idea from Adam, but he just couldn't quite execute it.
It's all Stoke at the moment. Bojan drops deep to collect the ball and the Cherries defenders have no idea whether to go with him or not. They elect not to, but that gives Bojan room to run at goal. He looks set to shoot, but instead slips in Arnautovic, who tumbles in the box. There's no foul, and to his credit he doesn't appeal. The Potters fans raise the volume a notch, and rightly so.
SHOT! First chance for Bournemouth in a while as Tomlin plays in Murray. He wants the ball back as he continues his run into the box, but Murray ignores his cries and strikes at goal from 20 yards. Its a low, daisy-cutter of an effort, that Butland is easily behind. Tomlin doesn't look best pleased.
SUBSTITUTION Bojan, who had come alive in the last 10 minutes, is replaced by last season's top scorer for Stoke, Mame Biram Diouf Perhaps a sign that Hughes is looking for his side to sit back on their lead and hit direct balls to the Senegalese striker?
Possibly. The away side have had far more of the ball in the last few minutes, and Stoke have 10 men inside their own half. There's no real penetration to Bournemouth's play though, and Ritchie is forced to line one up from 25 yards that is blocked by a Stoke body.
Pugh wins a free kick 30 yards from goal in a central position. This time it's Tomlin that's given the responsibility, but Butland is first to his lofted ball.
Stoke look for all the world like they're going to try and hold on here, and are content to just try and hit Bournemouth on the break. At the moment, the visitors are having plenty of the ball, but lack the creativity to carve out any real openings. Will that last, though?
Well, it had been coming. Ritchie gets the ball wide on the right edge of the Stoke box. After failing to find the target with any crosses so far this afternoon, he elects instead to pull the ball back across the edge of the box. It's a superb pass that finds Pugh, who aims a shot at goal. It's blocked, but breaks lose to Gosling in the box who takes a touch and fires it low into the bottom corner past the dive of Butland. Game on!
Bournemouth could be ahead as Francis' early cross just evades the outstretched boot of Murray and falls instead to the grateful Butland. Stoke will be as sick as parrots if they lose this.
CHANCE! It's almost time to hand out the sick bags at the Britannia as Ritchie's clever backheel tees up Gosling on the edge of the box, and his powerful effort is palmed clear at full stretch by Butland.
That's a sucker punch for Bournemouth but a delightful goal from Stoke's point of view. The Potters break quickly from a free kick and Johnson whips in a pearl of a cross from the right, which Distin misses at the near post leaving Mame Biram Diouf to plant a header beyond Boruc, who got a touch, but couldn't keep it out.
SAVE! That's a great stop from Butland, who is moving the wrong way as a shot comes in from close range, but he throws out a big hand and pushes the ball behind. That could be the difference between a win and a draw for the home side.
CHANCE! My word, Butland almost goes from hero to zero within two minutes as he loses track of Ritchie's attempted lob from halfway. He's completely out of position, but scrambles back in time just to see it drop the wrong side of the post.
CHANCE! Stoke should have put this to bed. Walters collects the ball 30 yards from goal and skips past a tired Bouremouth tackle before teeing up Afellay in the box, but the substitute can only drag his shot across the face of goal.
So Stoke City finally grab their first win of the season after a battling victory over Bournemouth. For a long time it appeared Jon Walters' goal would be enough to seal the win, but when Dan Gosling equalised late on, the stage was set for substitute Mame Biram Diouf to be the Potters hero when he struck six minutes from time.
Bournemouth fans will be pleased with the spirit their side showed, and Eddie Howe will feel that if his side continue to put in performances like that then the points will come. But its little consolation to those supporters that made the long trip north for today's game.
For now though, that's it from me. Thank you for joining me for a fantastic game at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon. I'll leave you with the updated Premier League table, and be sure to check out our match report from the game.
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