Bruno Guimaraes finds himself having to sit out the next three games after picking up a straight red in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday night.
The incident, in which Guimaraes was originally given a yellow card, was checked by VAR and on review was deemed worthy of a straight red – Bruno’s first of his career.
Fortunately, there are three Premier League games between now and the League Cup Final at Wembley on the 26th of this month, meaning the Brazilian will be back for the final to face Manchester United.
His suspension does mean, however, that Eddie Howe can no longer field his favourite starting eleven, having named an unchanged team for the last several games.
What’s most likely to happen is that Joelinton will be brought back into the middle of the park and Allan Saint-Maximin will be given the chance to show what he can do again down the left-side of attack.
New signing, Anthony Gordon can also play in that position, but we’ve seen that Eddie Howe likes to give new signings a bit of time to settle before thrusting them into the starting eleven if he can help it. Therefore it’s more likely that ASM will be given his chance to shine, but he should absolutely grasp that opportunity with both hands, as I’m sure Gordon will be champing at the bit to take that position and make it his own.
Who Starts For You?
Allan Saint-Maximin
Anthony Gordon
It’s imperative then, that ASM does all he can to impress Eddie Howe when given his shot. Many fans, myself included, feel that Maxi doesn’t fit the Howe style of playing. It requires him to track back more than he seems comfortable with, so now he has to prove that he is willing to put in the graft and make the right call in the final third, which is often lacking in his game.
We know he has the talent, now is his time to shine.