While Kyle Walker-Peters and Dominic Solanke have not yet faced each other on the pitch this season, Saturday’s FA Cup contest will represent just the latest skirmish in a string of head-to-head battles between the pair in recent weeks. Solanke came through the youth ranks at Chelsea, while Walker-Peters was developing across the capital at Tottenham. Kyle Walker-Peters says the prospect of facing one another has been a hot topic this week, in between battles on Grand Theft Auto!
Discussing his friendship with Solanke, Kyle Walker-Peters said: “I speak to him every day. We game together so we’ve had a few words (about Saturday). It will be a good battle. Especially with the lockdown and everything, you can’t really leave your house, so gaming is a good way to pass some time and it’s quite enjoyable. We play Grand Theft Auto at the moment on the PC. It’s sort of like a roleplay which is quite cool, quite funny.”
Both players missed around a month of action recently due to injury.
Kyle Walker-Peters added: “We got injured at a similar time. We stayed in contact, I was checking up on him and he was checking up on me. We talk all the time anyway, so it was a good way to pass the time.”
And who is the better gamer?
Kyle Walker-Peters said: “It depends what game! Dom is very good though.”
Asked what Solanke was like as a roommate with England,
Kyle Walker-Peters added: “He’s quite a cool customer, quite chilled. Good banter. He’s not too messy actually! He’s a chilled guy. I think you really need to know him to really get his personality.”
While the upcoming international break will no doubt give the pair the chance to take each other on virtually again, focus this weekend will very much be on the pitch. Only Junior Stanislas, who will miss this weekend’s cup tie through injury, has scored as many goals as Solanke for seventh-placed Cherries this campaign.
Kyle Walker-Peters said: “He’s doing well this season. He got his 11th goal on the weekend, which is good for him and good for his confidence. If he plays against us, we’ll have to watch out for him because he’s confident at the moment. On the flip side, we’ve got Che Adams who has scored a few goals recently and he’s in quite fine form. It’s going to be a good battle.”
Asked if he sees similarities in the way Adams and Solanke play,
Kyle Walker-Peters added: “They’ve got similar qualities. Both really strong and quick. They’re both finding their feet, which is great for both of them and it’s hard anyway in the Premier League, every game you go into is really tough. So to get the goals that they’re getting shows their quality.”
Bournemouth are the only Championship side left in this season’s FA Cup. Despite Saints’ recent woes in the Premier League, losing 10 of their past 12 matches, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men head to Vitality Stadium as overwhelming favourites to progress. They have already knocked out Arsenal and Wolves, as well as lower league Shrewsbury. Asked how much of an opportunity Saints view this tie,
Kyle Walker-Peters said: “You say it’s a favourable draw, but anything can happen in one game. I think it will be tough, so we need to approach the game right, approach it as we approach any other game and take it as serious as we can. It’s an opportunity to do something special and if we progress, anything can happen in two games. Who knows, maybe we can create some history.”
Talking of history, Walker-Peters’s only goal in professional football to date also came in this competition, netting in a 6-1 victory over Rochdale at Wembley, a stadium Spurs used as their temporary home during the 2017-18 campaign.
Kyle Walker-Peters said: “In the freezing cold snow I remember,”
Recalling his strike. Great memory. Hopefully I can get another goal in the competition!”
