Premier League Cup carrot for Cherries

Victory over Wolves would secure the Cherries development squad progression to the last 16 with two group games remaining.

Alan Connell’s team host Wolves in a behind-closed-doors game at Eastleigh’s Silverlake Stadium with the clash being streamed live on AFC Bournemouth’s YouTube channel (7pm kick-off).

The Cherries are unbeaten in this season’s competition having beaten Norwich and Charlton, as well as drawing 0-0 against Wolves, with all three games played away from home.

Norwich currently top Group C with ten points from five games, while the Cherries are second with seven from their first three.

Charlton have three points from four games and Wolves two from four – neither team could catch the Cherries if they were to take maximum points from the Midlanders.

The Premier League Cup is in the style of the Champions League with 32 clubs split into eight groups of four. Teams play each other home and away with the top two in each group advancing to the knockout stage.

Teams finishing top of their group have home advantage in the last 16, while the runners-up are away. From the last 16 onwards, all games are one-off knockout ties which can go to extra-time and penalties if they are not settled over 90 minutes.

In their first two seasons in the competition, the Cherries finished their group as runners-up and were knocked out in the last 16 by Newcastle (2017/18) and Nottingham Forest (2018/19).

In 2019/20, they topped their group and were due to host Wigan in the last 16 before the competition was curtailed due to the pandemic. It did not take place in 2020/21.

In 2021/22, the Cherries and Arsenal finished Group A locked on eight points and with the same goal difference. The Gunners qualified as runners-up having scored more goals than the Cherries.  

Last season, the Cherries won their first two group games but finished bottom after losing their next four.