As the end of the Barclays Premier League draws ever closer, Bournemouth face the latest test as they struggle towards their increasingly unlikely goal of securing top flight safety this season. They host Southampton on Sunday afternoon but also need results elsewhere to go their way.
We’ve taken a look at both teams’ form in the build up to this match as well as the stats and past meetings between the two sides. Bournemouth need it more, but the Saints certainly won’t be shy about sending them back down.
Escape looks unlikely for BournemouthDespite a couple of respectable results, which included holding Spurs to a 0-0 and an impressive 4-1 win over out of form Leicester, the chances of securing top flight safety by the end of the season look slim for Eddie Howe’s side. Their last outing was a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, a game which showed that they players definitely haven’t given up yet. Bournemouth are aided by the fact that West Ham and Watford, who both sit 4 points above them, are playing each other on Friday night, so the Cherries will go into this game knowing a win can take them closer to safety.
Saint undefeated in 5The Saints weren’t 100% safe from relegation themselves coming into the restart, however a 5 game unbeaten run has secured their place in the mid table. The second game in that unbeaten run was an impressive 1-0 victory over Pep’s Manchester City side, but their last 3 games have all ended in draws, including an entertaining 2-2 encounter with Man United. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side may have nothing left to play for this season, but given that they’ve proven they have it in them to take points off the big boys in recent games, it’s unlikely they’ll take it easy against their struggling opponents.
Bournemouth can take some comfort in the fact that they won the reverse fixture 3-1 back in September, but a lot has changed for both sides since then; Southampton’s fortune’s have changed for better, and Bournemouth’s for the worse. 4 of the last 6 meetings between these sides have ended in draws, including a 6 goal thriller last season. The last 2 games between the Cherries and Saints have served up 10 goals between them, so that’s a trend we’ll be hoping continues on Sunday. Calum Wilson has netted 3 times in his last 2 games against the Saints, so Bournemouth will be hoping he can add to that tally this weekend.
Below we’ve displayed the results of the last 5 matches between these sides as well as 3 statistical highlights that we’ve taken into consideration when creating our betting tips for this one. The big question hanging over this match is if Bournemouth’s players can pull it out the bag when the pressure’s on.
We’re predicting a draw in the South Coast Derby this weekend, hopefully with plenty of goals to provide us with an entertaining encounter.
Inconsistency is the main factor responsible for Bournemouth’s season. Against Tottenham, they could’ve played for 3 hours and not scored and yet they followed it up by putting past Leicester. Southampton have a hattrick of 3 score draws under there belt and we expect that run to increase to 4 this Sunday, especially given the history of draws between these sides. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Bournemouth are up for it, but Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side have proven themselves to be very hard to beat in recent games.
Our betting tip for this one comes courtesy of Paddy Power, who’re offering the draw on generous odds of 3.6. If you’re looking to back a goal scorer, we’d back Bournemouth’s Calum Wilson. The Englishman only made the bench against City midweek, but given his record in this fixture, Eddie Howe should put him in the starting line up.
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