Tottenham v Bournemouth preview: Spurs aim for first home Premier League victory

Image: Tottenham are yet to win a Premier League game at Wembley

Tottenham will be aiming for their first Premier League win at Wembley this season when they host Bournemouth on Saturday.

Mauricio Pochettino's men have drawn two and lost one of their home matches at England's national stadium, although they have had success there in the Champions League and EFL Cup.

But after two victories in their last two Premier League games away from Wembley - in which Harry Kane scored four goals - they will be hoping to bring this form back to north London.

They will also come up against a Bournemouth side who have won just one league match this season so far and have lost all three away games, amassing just four points.

Tottenham are also yet to lose to Bournemouth in league competition, winning three and drawing one of their four Premier League meetings to date, while netting 12 goals in the process - half of which have come from the in-form Kane.

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Team news

Mousa Dembele (ankle), Erik Lamela (hip), Danny Rose (knee) have all taken part in some first-team training sessions as they make their way back from injury, while Victor Wanyama (knee) remains in rehabilitation.

Serge Aurier will also be back in contention after serving a one-match suspension against Huddersfield.

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Bournemouth will be without Brad Smith after the defender suffered a hip muscle problem on international duty with Australia.

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Scotland midfielder Ryan Fraser has picked up a hamstring injury, as did Norway forward Josh King, but neither are expected to be long-term absentees.

Tyrone Mings has been out with a back problem, while forward Callum Wilson continues to step up his rehabilitation following a serious knee injury.

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Bournemouth's only previous trip to Wembley was in April 1998 in the Football League Trophy final against Grimsby - they lost 2-1 in extra-time, with Eddie Howe playing the full 120 minutes for the Cherries.

If Spurs fail to win this match then they'll become the first team in Football League history to win each of their opening four away games in a league season but fail to win any of their opening four home matches.

Harry Kane has had 22 shots (with seven on target) in home Premier League games this season without finding the net. In comparison. Kane has also had 22 shots with nine on target and found the net six times away from home.

Image: Harry Kane scored six Premier League goals in September

The only other player to score as many as six Premier League goals in his first four away games of a season but score none in his first four at home was Alan Shearer in 1993-94.

Harry Kane has scored 36 competitive goals in 2017 from 147 shots, compared to Bournemouth netting 36 times from 371 shots overall.

Paul Merson's prediction

I go with Tottenham every week at Wembley and they haven't won yet, but it has to come soon, surely? This is a nice game. Bournemouth are struggling this season and they are not going to boot you off the pitch.

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You have to remember that teams going to Wembley pick their game up. You ask any footballer if they could score a hat-trick anywhere they would pick Wembley. It's like a cricketer wanting to score a century in a Test match, they would pick Lord's, or a rugby player scoring a hat-trick of tries, they would pick Twickenham. That's where Wembley is.

Everybody raises their game at Wembley and Spurs need to sort it out. Against Burnley they were 1-0 up and with 20 minutes to go you saw they were getting nervous and in the end Burnley scored.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (13/2 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Tottenham are just 2/9 with Sky Bet to end their Premier League Wembley woes with a win, while Bournemouth are 11/1 to spring an upset and 11/2 to be the latest side to hold out for a draw at the national stadium. Harry Kane heads the first goalscorer betting and is just 1/3 to net anytime, while the Cherries' main threat Jermain Defoe is enhanced from 9/1 to 14/1 to break the deadlock in Sky Bet's Price Boosts.

Spurs v Bournemouth is included in this weekend's bonus Super 6 round, with £250,000 up for grabs again. Enter your predictions for free here.

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