BRIGHTON welcome Bournemouth on Saturday for a six-pointer at the bottom of the Premier League. Anthony Olsson (@Ant_olsson93) analyses the encounter.
Brighton v Bournemouth | Saturday 28th December 2019, 12:30 | Sky Sports
Brighton host regional rivals Bournemouth in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday and the Seagulls will be looking to get back to winning ways after a chastening defeat on the road against Spurs. Meanwhile, Brighton are winless in their last three and are in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight that people wouldn’t have expected when they beat Arsenal in early December.
The Seagulls have received a lot of praise for their football this season but they’ll need to make the most of their home games if they are to survive another season. Brighton haven’t won in three home games and have conceded first in each. They will be happy about facing an inconsistent Bournemouth side who have only picked up four points in their last eight; the Cherries did manage to grab a 1-0 win away at Chelsea and the ability to compete with top sides will keep Brighton honest.
This fixture produced plenty of goals last season and the contest at the Amex saw Bournemouth run out 5-0 winners after Brighton were reduced to 10 men. This season though I think it will be hard to split the two sides. Both sides want to play nice attractive football and I think their styles could cancel each other out.
The draw is priced at 3/1 (Betfred) and I think with both sides being inconsistent this season it’s a relatively safe angle.
I mentioned before that there has been plenty of goals in this fixture previously and I think we could see more goals again. Both Teams To Score on Saturday is 17/20 (Betway) and I think that’s a good angle with this bet landing in three of the last five league meetings.
In the goalscorer markets I like the look of Harry Wilson to find the back of the net at any time at 23/5 (Unibet). Wilson is Bournemouth’s top scorer in the league and he has scored all six of his goals on the road. The Welsh midfielder also takes free-kicks which should aide our cause.
I would be cautious though as Wilson is coming back from an injury and managed only 25 minutes on Boxing Day. Hopefully he’ll play a much bigger part on Saturday but possibly waiting for the team line-ups before backing him is best.
Best Bets
Brighton v Bournemouth – Draw (3/1 Betfred)
Brighton v Bournemouth – Both Teams To Score (17/20 Betway)
Brighton v Bournemouth – Harry Wilson to score at anytime (23/5 Unibet)
