Tottenham Hotspur have the chance to get their season back on track when they take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Lilywhites have lost four of their last five matches, including a setback in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie, but this is a fixture that they tend to do well in.
Bournemouth
© ReutersThe second half of the campaign has not gone to plan for Eddie Howe, who suggested after the 3-3 draw with Southampton last weekend that he is concerned by his side's lack of momentum heading into the summer.
Howe has previously talked up the importance of ending the season on a high, believing that it will impact the summer and ultimately the start of the following campaign.
Two wins in 12 matches since thumping Chelsea 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium on January 30 is hardly the best way to go about achieving that, with the Cherries dropping off as soon as their Premier League status was as good as assured.
Bournemouth moved into the top half of the Premier League with their victory over Chelsea, but just over three months on they are down in 14th, only slightly closer to 10th than they are to 18th-placed Cardiff City.
Relegation has long been out of the question for Howe's men, though, perhaps explaining their defeats to Leicester City, Burnley and Fulham, as well as the draw with south coast rivals Southampton last time out.
Bournemouth did crush Brighton & Hove Albion not so long ago, though, meaning that they have taken seven points from their last four away league games after taking none from the nine before that.
At home, however, they are winless in five Premier League games, losing the last two in a row to Burnley and Fulham. They last lost three consecutively at the Vitality Stadium in April 2016.
The Cherries have never lost their last home Premier League game of the season, drawing one and winning twice. The last time they lost their final home game in a league campaign was in 2010-11 in League One (2-1 vs. Rochdale).
With a top-half finish now out of the question, Howe needs to motivate his players for these final games against Spurs and Crystal Palace if he is to get his wish of finishing a mixed campaign on a high.
Recent form in Premier League: DLLWLD
Tottenham Hotspur
© ReutersTottenham missed out on the chance to nail down a top-four finish last weekend when suffering a first loss at their new stadium, falling 1-0 at the hands of London rivals West Ham United.
That defeat was tough to take, of course, but it was not fatal. The same is true of Tuesday's loss by the same scoreline to Ajax, leaving the Lilywhites with a tough task on their hands in next week's Champions League semi-final second leg.
Spurs can still recover from what has been a bad couple of weeks, which has also seen them lose 1-0 to Manchester City in the Premier League, a few days after beating the same side on away goals in their European quarter-final.
Victory on the south coast on Saturday would be the perfect remedy, taking Spurs to 73 points for the season. That would secure Champions League football for the 2019-20 campaign, given that bitter rivals Arsenal are four points behind with two games to play.
Until the end of January, Tottenham had won more away games (11), more away points (33) and scored more away goals (30) than any other Premier League team this season. Since then, though, they are one of just two sides not to have earned a single point on their travels, along with bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield Town.
The 2-1 loss to Burnley at Turf Moor on February 23 was most damaging, ending their outside title hopes, and they have since followed that up with successive defeats to Chelsea, Southampton, Liverpool and Man City - zero points collected from a possible 15 outside of North London.
Spurs welcome Everton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the final matchday - a tougher fixture than their trip to Bournemouth, so Mauricio Pochettino will simply want to get the job done on Saturday.
That will set the Lilywhites up nicely for their away match with Ajax in Amsterdam, which is quite simply one of the biggest matches in their entire history.
Pochettino can therefore be forgiven for wanting to rotate his side this weekend. Given his team's away record over the past few months, however, this is far from a guaranteed three points.
Recent form in Premier League: LWWLWL
Recent form (all competitions): WLLWLL
Team News
© ReutersJan Vertonghen suffered a sickening head injury in a collision with teammate Toby Alderweireld on Tuesday and will sit this match out, while the return fixture with former club Ajax may also come too soon for his return.
Harry Kane, Serge Aurier and Harry Winks are all still injured, but Pochettino may be able to recall Erik Lamela to his squad following the attacking midfielder's latest two-month spell on the sidelines.
Son Heung-min is eligible for Saturday's match after sitting out the Ajax tie through suspension, and Vincent Janssen is also an option for the visitors following his first appearance for the club in two years last weekend.
Son is favourite to start up top, though, and he has scored five goals in his last four Premier League games against Bournemouth - against no side has he scored more in the competition (also five vs. Watford).
Bournemouth have a number of injury issues to contend with for this final home match of the season, meanwhile, with as many as nine first-team players possibly missing out.
Charlie Daniels, Lewis Cook, Simon Francis, Andrew Surman, Diego Rico, Adam Smith and Junior Stanislas are all out, while Dan Gosling and Nathaniel Clyne face late fitness tests.
Having been brought on as a second-half sub for Gosling against Southampton last weekend, Emerson Hyndman is in line for his first Premier League start of the season for the injury-plagued Cherries.
Bournemouth can at least call upon star strike duo Joshua King and Callum Wilson. The latter has been directly involved in 10 goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring six and assisting four.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Boruc; Mepham, Cook, Ake; Fraser, Lerma, Hyndman, Simpson; Brooks; Wilson, King
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Foyth, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Wanyama, Dier; Lucas, Eriksen, Son; Llorente
Head To Head
Bournemouth have lost six of their seven Premier League meetings with Spurs, netting just two goals in those matches.
Tottenham have won two of their three Prem away games against the Cherries, winning 5-1 in 2015-16 and 4-1 here last season. The other match finished goalless.
The Lilywhites average 3.1 goals-per-game in the Premier League against Bournemouth, scoring 22 times across their seven games - their best-such record against any side in the competition.
We say: Bournemouth 0-1 Tottenham
Tottenham have lost 12 Premier League games this season, last losing more in a single campaign in 2008-09 (15). Only two teams have ever lost more than 12 Premier League games and still finished in the top four - Chelsea in 1997-98 (15) and Everton in 2004-05 (13).
Spurs remain in a very strong position in terms of their top-four aspirations, but any slip-up on Saturday and all of a sudden they will be left holding on heading into the final round of matches.
