Bournemouth secured automatic promotion to the Premier League for the next season, having finished second behind Fulham on the points table. With a record of 25 wins, 13 draws and eight losses, the Cherries won 54% of their matches. In this article, we will look at Bournemouth’s performances in the 2021-22 EFL Championship season and assess where all improvements are needed to survive in the English top flight.
Bournemouth had the best defence in the EFL Championship this season, with just 39 goals conceded. In fact, they have outperformed their xGA output by eight goals. The Cherries will be happy with the performances of their goalkeeper Mark Travers. The Irishman has faced 156 shots on target and made 120 saves, giving him a save percentage of 76.9%. He has also kept 20 clean sheets in 45 games, which is an impressive 44.4%.
Seen in the above visual is the shot map of Bournemouth in this season’s EFL Championship. The Cherries’ top scorer is Dominic Solanke, with 29 strikes to his name. Four of these were from the spot. The U-20 World Cup winner has received support from the Danish midfielder Phillip Billing, who has netted 10. Jaidon Anthony and Jamal Lowe have also chipped in with a few goals. Overall, Bournemouth have taken 576 shots and scored 73 goals, which means they have needed 7.89 shots to score one goal.
Jaidon Anthony is Bournemouth’s most successful threat creator this season from open play as well as in overall threat. The Cherries have used both flanks to create threats, but they have done so more on the right by a small margin. Philip Billing, Ryan Christie and Dominic Solanke are the top three men in assists for Bournemouth this season, with 10, eight and seven assists to their name, respectively.
Given above are the attacking performances of Bournemouth in this season of the EFL Championship. The Cherries have netted the second-most goals (74), have the third-highest xG, rank top in percentage of shots on target, and third in touches in the opposition’s penalty box per game. The team from the south coast has also completed a respectable 68.6% of their attempted dribbles this season.
Bournemouth won automatic promotion on the penultimate matchday against Nottingham Forest who were also competing for the second automatic promotion spot. The Cherries will be happy with the improvement of Dominic Solanke this season, but it will be interesting to see if the ex-Chelsea and Liverpool man can replicate these performances even remotely in the Premier League next season. The Cherries will need strength in depth to compete in the English top flight.
