League One
Tuesday 7th February 2012 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Bournemouth will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Exeter City at Dean Court on Tuesday night, and close the gap on the play-off pack.
Bournemouth suffered a surprise defeat at Chesterfield last weekend, but now have the chance to set the record straight in front of their home fans against an Exeter City side who have only won twice away from home all season.
Prior to that loss at Chesterfield, The Cherries had put together a six match unbeaten run which included wins over Yeovil Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Notts County and Tranmere Rovers along with draws at Brentford and Walsall.
At home though, Bournemouth have won their last three on the trot and will be aiming to make it four; their home record stands at 5-2-6 14/17, and they won their previous corresponding fixture at Exeter City back in September 2-0.
Striker Wesley Thomas (10 goals, 3 assists) leads their scoring and he’s backed up by influential midfielder Marc Pugh (6 goals, 6 assists), while forwards Michael Symes (3 goals) and veteran Steve Fletcher are also dangerous and capable of scoring.
Visitors Exeter City are precariously perched just above the relegation zone two points and two places above Walsall, and they will need to buckle down here if they’re to get anything from this match.
Just one win in their last nine matches which was, ironically, a 2-0 win at Chesterfield, but Paul Tisdale’s team need to pick up their away form if they are to escape relegation this season. In addition, they’ve failed to score on the road on nine occasions which is not a good record to have out of 14 away matches.
The Grecians’ away record stands at 2-4-8 11/25, and it will come as no surprise that they possess the second worst away goal tally in the division (the lowest are Rochdale with 10 goals). Leading goalscorer is former Manchester United striker Daniel Nardiello who has previously had spells at Blackpool and Swansea City, with 6 goals, and another former Swansea connection is Guillem Bauza (2 goals,2 assists).
Bournemouth suffered a hiccup last week and I’m backing them to bounce back with a home win here against an Exeter side who don’t score many away goals; another 2-0 win for The Cherries.
Main Pick: Bournemouth straight win @ 1.80 Stan James
Value Pick: Bournemouth AH-1 @ 2.43 Pinnacle
