Football – England – Championship
Saturday 1st November 2014 – Kickoff: 1715hrs
Saturday’s late kick-off brings us a south coast derby between Bournemouth and Brighton although this can’t really be classed as a ‘local’ derby with both teams at either end of the coast – Bournemouth towards the west, while Brighton reside towards the east, so normal rules apply.
Bournemouth continued their amazing run of form by picking up their fifth win on the trot in all competitions when they beat Premier League club West Brom at Dean Court 2-1 in the Capital One Cup and this was on the back of four straight wins in the Championship.
The Cherries had registered wins over Bolton Wanderers 2-1 away along with home wins over Charlton Athletic and Reading 1-0 and 3-0 respectively before exploding at St Andrews where they dealt hosts Birmingham City an absolute thrashing winning 8-0, and if Blues caretaker manager Malcolm Crosby harboured any dreams of making his position permanent, these were put to bed in no uncertain fashion by Eddie Howe’s men.
Bournemouth’s overall home record stands at 4-1-2 10/6 and they’ve won their last three matches on home turf on the bounce whilst keeping clean sheets in addition. Striker Callum Wilson (9 goals) came off the bench to score again on Tuesday night against The Baggies and should be seriously considered an anytime goalscorer today.
Brighton meanwhile have now gone ten league matches without a win under manager Sami Hyypia whose position at the helm of The Seagulls must increasingly be under threat as each match passes without a win.
A mixture of defeats (3) and draws (7) make up the ten matches for Brighton who have won just once on their travels in their last eight attempts (that was a win at Elland Road over floundering Leeds United), and they’ve drawn their last three away on the trot.
Brighton’s overall away record stands at 1-3-3 6/8 and their forward line have not been firing at all so far this season which could spell trouble for them again here this evening.
Bournemouth are full of confidence right now and seem to have rekindled their spark under manager Howe’s guidance, while Brighton seem to be tentative under Hyypia – this leads me to recommend backing Bournemouth for the straight win at very good odds, with Wilson scoring again for The Cherries. Bournemouth to win this either 1-0 or 2-1.
Pick: Bournemouth straight win @ 2.00 Bet Victor
