AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham: Dembele warns against complacency

Midfielder Mousa Dembele hopes defeat in Anderlecht can rouse Tottenham from their recent slump ahead of their Premier League trip to AFC Bournemouth.

Mauricio Pochettino's men are winless in four matches across all competitions since their resounding 4-1 win over leaders Manchester City.

Last Saturday's 0-0 stalemate with Liverpool was their third consecutive draw, before their Belgian Pro League opponents overturned Christian Eriksen's fourth-minute opener to claim a 2-1 triumph.

Tottenham lie seventh in the table having not lost a Premier League match since the opening day reverse at Manchester United, and Dembele insists they must be on their mettle to preserve this statistic on the south coast.

"Anderlecht woke us up," Dembele told Tottenham's official website. "Against teams like Bournemouth we know it's going to be difficult.

"We shouldn't underestimate any team like we did against Anderlecht.

"Teams like Bournemouth who have just come up always want to fight that much more so that's something we need to be aware of and understand how tough it's going to be.

"We need to stick to our game plan and play the way we want to play and if we take our chances then we will be okay in the end."

Bournemouth suffered a chastening 5-1 loss at Manchester City last time out, when their preparations were thrown into flux by goalkeeper Artur Boruc sustaining a thigh injury in the warm-up.

The Poland international remains doubtful for the Tottenham match and understudy Adam Federici endured an error-strewn display at the Etihad Stadium.

Neverthelss, Howe remains confident in the ability of both his keepers.

"I'm not concerned about either individual," he told a news conference.

"When you are a goalkeeper you are going to make mistakes and unfortunately for us, it happened in consecutive games. But it doesn't make my faith any less in either."

Having seen his team claim a solitary win in their past six league outings, Howe believes Bournemouth are in for another stern test against a team and a coach he respects.

"I admire good players working hard, that's good to see because a lot of the time good players can come alive when they have the ball, but it's the other side of the game that really tests them," Howe said.

"In his [Pochettino's] teams, everyone puts the same amount of work in and I think that's the most impressive thing."

Both teams are hindered by lengthy injury lists heading into the contest, with Federico Fazio (hamstring), Nacer Chadli (ankle), Son Heung-min (foot), Ryan Mason (knee) and Nabil Bentaleb (foot) among the Tottenham absentees.

Harry Arter could feature for Bournemouth for the first time this season having played 70 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly following a hip injury, while fellow midfielder Andrew Surman has recovered from the calf injury that curtailed his involvement against City.

Callum Wilson, Max Gradel, Tyrone Mings (all knee) and Tommy Elphick (ankle) are long-term absentees.

Key Opta Stats

- This is only the second competitive meeting between AFC Bournemouth and Tottenham, with the south coast team winning a 1957 FA Cup tie 3-1.
- Tottenham have conceded three goals in their past six Premier League games, keeping four clean sheets in the process.
- AFC Bournemouth have scored in each of their last seven Premier League games.
- Bournemouth striker Glenn Murray scored his ninth goal in 22 2015 Premier League appearances last time out at Manchester City.
- Since the start of last season, nine of Christian Eriksen's 12 Premier League goals for Tottenham have come away from home.