Tavernier insists on beating from City defeat as Cherries seek home tonic

Bournemouth may have opened their first Premier League campaign under Marco Rose with a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, but Marcus Tavernier is refusing to let a gutting late turnaround sour his optimism ahead of Saturday's visit of Everton.

Tavernier scored to give the Cherries the lead, only for Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol to strike and snatch all three points for Manchester City as late as the 83rd minute, ending Bournemouth's 18-match unbeaten run in the process.

Yet rather than dwell on the disappointment, the midfielder insists there is plenty to build on against a side the Cherries have a long history of toppling.

"I felt we could've done more, but the goal was a perfect example of what we want to achieve," Tavernier told the club website. "To come out against a quality side and go high with our press, we can take positives for sure.

"We always want to improve, though, and to come away with no points is very disappointing. That shows the intention of this squad of players and how passionate we are about what we want to achieve."

Bournemouth boast a superb recent record in this fixture, winning more Premier League games against Everton than against any other opponent (nine), and only Fulham (60% - 6/10) boast a higher win rate among sides they have faced 10+ times in the division (50% of 18). Meanwhile, the Cherries are yet to lose their opening home league game for eight seasons (W4 D4) since a 0-2 defeat to Watford back in August 2017.

Armstrong eyeing 'hybrid role' as Toffees hope to start brightly

Everton, by contrast, started their league campaign with a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace, and followed that up with a 4-0 thrashing of Preston North End in the EFL Cup. Teenager Harrison Armstrong, who recorded his first Premier League goal involvement in place of Jordan Pickford's teammates against Palace in only his 17th appearance in the competition, is relishing a growing role under David Amoroy alongside summer signing Hayden Hackney.

"For someone my age to be playing 90 minutes in the Premier League – it's a massive opportunity for me to learn, so I'm just hoping I can do that as much as possible this season," said Armstrong. "The manager asked me to play what he calls the hybrid role. He wants me to see what the game needs – he's given me license to push on at times, but also understand when I need to be deeper, alongside Hayden.

"I think it's more of a free role. He wants me to express myself."

The duel of the glovemen

Watch out for a mouthwatering battle between the sticks, with Bournemouth's Djordje Petrovic and Everton's Jordan Pickford two of just four goalkeepers to have featured in every Premier League game since the start of last season, alongside Brighton's Bart Verbruggen and Fulham's Bernd Leno. Petrovic, though, now faces genuine competition for his starting berth following the arrival of Michele Di Gregorio.

Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, meanwhile, has been Everton's most potent scorer since the start of last season with nine Premier League goals, netting 4.7 goals more than expected from 4.3 xG, a figure only behind Antoine Semenyo (+5.7) in the competition since the start of 2025-26.

Prediction: Bournemouth cling on

April's 0-2 win at the Vitality Stadium proved on the only one of Everton's nine Premier League away games against the Cherries (D2 L6) — though it came in this exact meeting last season, a 1-0 success in December. Following their Palace victory on matchday one, the Toffees will be hoping to start a league campaign with back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2020-21, when they won their opening four under Carlo Ancelotti.

Bournemouth arrive unbeaten in nine home league matches and boast a 47.7% win probability, per club football data, with Everton among just 27.3% chance of a repeat of that December win.