Newcastle United have come a long way in a short space of time since their visit to the Vitality Stadium in 2020.
On a warm July night on the South Coast - as United continued Project Restart amid the global pandemic - the Magpies ran out 4-1 winners thanks to goals from Dwight Gayle, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almiron and Valentino Lazaro. However, if ever you wanted to chart the progress of Newcastle since then, you need only look at the team sheet from that night which read: Dubravka, Krafth, Lascelles, Fernandez, Manquillo, Shelvey, Bentaleb, Saint-Maximin, Longstaff, Joelinton, Gayle.
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A quick glance at the opening line-up that night shows that there are only three survivors in it that have chance of starting against the Cherries this weekend in Longstaff, Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin. Of the team that beat Bournemouth, Martin Dubravka is still on Tyneside but no longer first choice while Emil Krafth is injured.
Jamaal Lascelles has not started a Premier League game since August and Javier Manquillo is another to suffer injury but in fairness can't get past Kieran Trippier in the starting XI. Then there are the departures with Federico Fernandez now on to his second club since he was handed a free transfer by the Magpies last summer, first plying his trade with Elche for just one match then moving on to a money spinning move to Al-Duhail in Qatar.
Jonjo Shelvey's recent exit to Nottingham Forest came after he was offered a longer contract at the City Ground compared to the one on the table at Newcastle. And what became of the skilful passer that was Nabil Bentaleb?
The Algerian international headed to Angers in France after his loan stint at Newcastle did not materialise into a permanent move and he is still contracted with the French club until 2025. Meanwhile, Dwight Gayle has been at Stoke City since the summer where he has scored one goal in 24 appearances.
Newcastle's subs on the night included Andy Carroll, now at Reading, and DeAndre Yedlin has had stints at Galatasaray and Inter Miami. Isaac Hayden is at Norwich City while Valentino Lazaro's journeyman career has taken him to three more clubs on loan.
Remember Lazaro joined Newcastle from Inter Milan on loan but was sent back after an unsuccessful stint in the eyes of Steve Bruce. He has since toured Europe and played for Borussia Monchengladbach, Benfica and is now with Torino, who have an option to buy the Austria international.
Lazaro's goal that night showed the potential he had but that was about as good as it got for him in a Newcastle shirt. The two managers that night in Bruce and Eddie Howe have also had incredible journeys since that night.
Bruce stayed on as boss for another 13 months with Howe eventually replacing him after a stint out of work. Another big away win is not out the question this weekend, but a dramatically different starting line-up will take the field and Howe will have to ensure he doesn't walk into the home changing room after his long association with the Cherries.
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