Team guides · Bournemouth
Bournemouth FPL team guide 2026/27
Squad, fixture runs and rotation partners
Squad leaders
The fastest routes into this club's player pool.
Points and form from 2025/26.
Schedule pulse
Difficulty across the next 5 listed fixtures.
Attack vs defence
Bawler's own split — the same run can be kind to one end and cruel to the other.
Rated 1 (easiest) to 5 from the opponent's attacking and defensive strength, not the official single number. How it's built →
Squad
31 players in the FPL game, by position.
| Player | Owned | Pts | xPts | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||
| PetrovićNailed | 5.2% | 124 | 2.85 | £4.6 |
| ForsterBackup | 0.0% | 0 | 0.17 | £4.0 |
| Mandas | 0.0% | 0 | — | £4.0 |
| McKenna | 0.2% | 0 | — | £3.9 |
| Defenders | ||||
| Senesi | 22.0% | 175 | — | £5.2 |
| Truffert | 5.3% | 165 | 3.15 | £4.8 |
| A.Jimenez | 0.1% | 74 | — | £4.5 |
| SmithBattle | 0.2% | 58 | 1.47 | £4.4 |
| MilosavljevićOUT | 0.0% | 19 | 0.00 | £4.4 |
| Hill | 7.4% | 110 | 2.84 | £4.2 |
| DiakitéBattle | 0.3% | 46 | 1.80 | £4.1 |
| SolerRotation | 0.2% | 3 | 0.80 | £3.9 |
| Akinmboni | 0.2% | 0 | — | £3.8 |
| Bevan | 0.2% | 0 | — | £3.8 |
| Midfielders | ||||
| Kluivert | 0.6% | 41 | 2.65 | £6.9 |
| Rayan | 2.3% | 67 | 2.55 | £5.4 |
| AdliBattle | 0.2% | 67 | 2.14 | £5.4 |
| TavernierBattle | 4.2% | 137 | 2.65 | £5.3 |
| BrooksRotation | 0.2% | 59 | 1.39 | £5.0 |
| Scott | 2.1% | 136 | 2.71 | £4.9 |
| Adams | 0.3% | 77 | 1.85 | £4.9 |
| ChristieOUT | 0.1% | 47 | 1.10 | £4.9 |
| CookBattle | 0.0% | 40 | 1.97 | £4.9 |
| Tóth.ARotation | 0.0% | 8 | 0.79 | £4.9 |
| Gannon-DoakRotation | 0.0% | 11 | 1.48 | £4.8 |
| DaCosta | 0.0% | 0 | — | £4.5 |
| Stevens | 0.0% | 0 | — | £4.5 |
| Rees-Dottin | 0.2% | 0 | — | £4.3 |
| Forwards | ||||
| Evanilson | 2.4% | 115 | 2.72 | £6.6 |
| Enes ÜnalFringe | 0.0% | 27 | 0.91 | £5.4 |
| Kroupi.JrOUT | 7.6% | 113 | 0.00 | £4.7 |
Points from 2025/26. xPts is Bawler's projected points per gameweek — fixture-adjusted and weighted by how likely the player is to start. Full projections →
Rotation partners
Own one from each pair and start whichever has the kinder week.
Scored by taking the easier of the two clubs' fixtures each gameweek across the listed horizon.
Fixture run
Every listed fixture ahead, coloured by official FPL difficulty.
Latest updates
Fifth metatarsal fracture requiring surgery, ruling him out until roughly November.
FPL: Remove from all early-season plans.
Tracked daily from cited sources. News for every club is on team news.
Manager & style
Appointed 1 April 2026, replacing Andoni Iraola (departed at the end of 2025/26 to become Liverpool head coach, replacing Arne Slot). A new manager means last season's roles, minutes and set-piece duties do not automatically carry over.
Red Bull-school gegenpressing. High-intensity, vertical, transition-heavy football explicitly descended from Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' approach, under whom Rose developed at Mainz. Rose describes his principles as 'emotionality, hunger and being active' - very active against the ball, sprinting a lot, winning high balls and taking short routes to goal. Presses space-oriented rather than man-to-man, congesting the centre with as many as eight players in a narrow, short-distance block so any heavy touch is pounced on. His Leipzig side conceded the fewest shots (260) and fewest shots on target (85) in its division. Known weakness: when intensity drops the structure degrades badly, leaving gaps in behind pushed-up full-backs.
Usual shape: 4-2-2-2 / 4-4-2 (Rose has stated a personal preference for a 4-4-2 diamond with two strikers, but set up 4-2-3-1 in his first pre-season friendly)
Summer transfers
In
| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Expected role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvaro Rodriguez | CF | Elche CF | £25.7m (reported as EUR 25m elsewhere) | First-team centre-forward; signed 14 July. Fits Rose's preference for two strikers. |
| Jaheim Azzouz Scafe | CB | AFC Wimbledon | Undisclosed | Development/depth centre-back; signed 17 July |
| Ben Westcott | GK | Peterborough United | Free | Goalkeeping depth; signed 25 July |
Out
| Player | Pos | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcos Senesi | CB | Tottenham Hotspur | Free (out of contract 30 June) |
| Hamed Traore | AM | Marseille | £6.4m (reported as EUR 7.5m elsewhere) |
| Owen Bevan | CB | Dundee FC | Undisclosed |
| Michael Dacosta | RW | Moreirense | Free |
| Romain Faivre | RM | AJ Auxerre (season-long loan) | Loan |
| Alex Paulsen | GK | Motherwell FC (season-long loan) | Loan |
| Alex Jimenez | RB | Fiorentina (season-long loan) | Loan |
Current injuries
| Player | Issue | Expected return |
|---|---|---|
| Veljko Milosavljevic | Injury - left out of the travelling party for the Austria pre-season training camp and unavailable for the St Pauli friendly. Nature of the injury not disclosed. | Unverified |
Injury picture as of 30 July 2026 — availability moves fast in pre-season, so confirm against official team news.
Expected XI & selection battles
Formation: 4-2-3-1 (used in the first friendly) or 4-4-2 / 4-2-2-2 (Rose's stated preference)
- GK Djordje Petrovic
- RB Adam Smith
- CB Bafode Diakite
- CB James Hill
- LB Adrien Truffert
- CM Tyler Adams
- CM Alex Scott
- RW Rayan
- AM Justin Kluivert
- LW Ben Gannon-Doak
- ST Evanilson
Battles to watch
- This XI is a low-confidence projection. The only pre-season lineup available (v St Pauli, 24 July) was heavily depleted: Petrovic; Adam Smith, James Hill, Harold William, Adrien Truffert; Ryan Christie, Alex Scott; Remy Rees-Dottin, Marcus Tavernier, Enes Unal; Evanilson - with Rayan and Tyler Adams still absent on World Cup duty (Brazil and USA) and Milosavljevic injured.
- Centre-forward: Evanilson vs Alvaro Rodriguez vs Eli Junior Kroupi vs Enes Unal vs Daniel Jebbison. If Rose deploys his preferred two-striker system, two of these start and the partnership choice is completely open.
- Centre-back: Marcos Senesi has left and Milosavljevic is injured, leaving Bafode Diakite, James Hill and 'Harold William' competing. Bournemouth were also reported on 28 July to be pursuing a Portuguese defender for around EUR 25m including bonuses, which would change this.
- Central midfield: Tyler Adams (a natural fit for Rose's pressing system) vs Ryan Christie vs Alex Scott.
- Wide/attacking midfield: Justin Kluivert, Marcus Tavernier, Ben Gannon-Doak and Rayan for the advanced slots.
Set-piece takers
FPL winners & losers
Research calls from the sources below, not model output — the model's numbers for these players are on predicted points.
Key uncertainties
The honest list — what this guide could not pin down as of 30 July 2026. Any of these can change the FPL picture before Gameweek 1:
- Formation is genuinely unresolved. Rose's stated preference is a 4-4-2 diamond with two strikers and his Leipzig default was 4-2-2-2/4-4-2, but he set Bournemouth up in a 4-2-3-1 for the St Pauli friendly. This single decision changes which forwards and wide players are FPL-relevant.
- Only one pre-season lineup exists so far and it was missing World Cup returnees Rayan (Brazil) and Tyler Adams (USA) plus the injured Milosavljevic - it is not a reliable guide to the GW1 XI. Four more friendlies follow (Augsburg 30 July, Genoa 4 Aug, Real Betis 8 Aug, Mainz 15 Aug).
- Transfer sources conflict on completeness. Sports Mole's tracker showed zero confirmed signings as of 20 July while Wikipedia and other reporting confirm Alvaro Rodriguez signed on 14 July - the Sports Mole tracker appears stale.
- A Portuguese centre-back (fee around EUR 25m including bonuses, personal terms agreed) was reported on 28 July as close, delayed by a Europa League playoff. Not completed.
- Antoine Semenyo was sold to Manchester City for roughly £62.5m-£65m and Rayan signed from Vasco da Gama for £24.7m - but both were January 2026 moves, not summer 2026 business. Do not double-count them in the summer window.
- Christos Mandas (GK, Lazio) was reported on loan with an option to buy, but this appears to be a January 2026 arrangement and his 2026/27 status is unverified. Petrovic started the first friendly.
- No injury return date exists for Milosavljevic and no wider Bournemouth injury list has been published.
- Set-piece and penalty hierarchy is entirely carried over from Iraola's final gameweeks and has not been re-confirmed under a new manager - historically one of the least reliable assumptions after a managerial change.
Sources
- Bournemouth Transfer Round Up: Cherries to bolster defence - VAVEL — 2026-07-28
- A first look at Rose's style of play as Bournemouth take on St Pauli — 2026-07-24
- Bournemouth vs St. Pauli match lineup - Club Friendlies 24 Jul 2026 — 2026-07-24
- 2026-27 AFC Bournemouth season - Wikipedia — 2026-07
- FPL 2026/27: Premier League Set-Piece Takers - Fantasy Football Scout — 2026-07
- Marco Rose Tactics, Formation and Style of Play - Sportsdunia — 2026
A point-in-time research snapshot compiled 30 July 2026, showing the six most recent of the sources the research drew on. It does not update in real time — line-ups, fitness and transfers can all move before the deadline, so always confirm against official team news. All 20 club guides are on team guides.
FPL is a free fantasy game — this is squad research, not betting advice.
Updated 13 August 2026, 07:21 UK · Source: Official FPL API