With the F.A. Cup Quarter-finals taking place this weekend, it means that there is a slightly curtailed Premier League programme on the horizon and although only five matches are taking place, their importance is certainly no less.
One of those fixtures takes us to the South Coast, as Bournemouth play host to Newcastle at the Vitality Stadium and after getting the better of Huddersfield last weekend, the Cherries are all but secured another season in the English top flight.
The fact that Bournemouth have enough distance between themselves and the bottom three, is something that means Eddie Howe’s men may well decide to take their foot off of the gas for the rest of the season.
While if this does prove to be the case, it is something that could well play into the hands of Newcastle at the weekend. That’s because, the Magpies are still in need of at least one more Premier League win before they can also start celebrating their own survival attempts.
Their plight would have been massively helped last weekend, when they played host to Everton – a game that at one point saw them 2-0 down and looking like as if Marco Silva had led the Toffees to a well earned away win.
However, Newcastle have been a different beast as of late and they were a much spritelier outfit after the restart. Roared on by the home fans, they eventually completed a dramatic turnaround to snatch all three points, as Ayose Perez slammed the ball home with six minutes left on the clock.
The partnership of Perez and fellow forward Salamon Rondon has really kicked into gear over the past few weeks and if they can combine to the same effect on Saturday, it could cause a leaky Bournemouth defence some problems.
If that is to be the case, then Bournemouth may have to hope that the best form of defence is attack and with Callum Wilson once again fit and among their goals, they have the perfect foil in which to put this plan into operation.
The forward returned last Saturday, while it was his 20th minute strike which opened the scoring and put Bournemouth well on the way to victory against Huddersfield, while all three points were secured by a Ryan Fraser goal halfway through the second half.
That win has all but consigned Huddersfield to relegation and at the same time it is a win that would have been very welcome within the Bournemouth camp, especially as it was their first Premier League success in six matches.
Ultimately it has been a successful campaign for Bournemouth, although many will feel that this season could have been a real opportunity to kick on and be challenging the likes of Wolves and Watford for a seventh place finish.
With little to play for don’t be surprised if Bournemouth are not firing on all cylinders and if Newcastle do manage to earn all three points, then the survival party will certainly begin in earnest for the Tyneside outfit.