Bournemouth welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night with the Cherries now firmly involved in the Premier League relegation battle.
One win in 12 top-flight games means Eddie Howe’s side find themselves nineteenth. Bournemouth have lost their last four league games without scoring a single goal, so they must turn things around quickly if they’re to avoid the drop.
Bournemouth had the opportunity to move out of the bottom three last time out, but the south coast side were beaten by bottom club Norwich. The Cherries could’ve moved nine points clear of the Canaries. Instead, Norwich are now just three points behind.
Howe’s side showed very little fight against Norwich. Bournemouth only managed to register six shots to Norwich’s 16, while seeing just 34% of the possession at Carrow Road. Howe’s post-match comments also did very little to brighten the mood in the camp.
Brighton come into this game on the back of 1-1 with Aston Villa. Leandro Trossard gave Brighton the lead, but the Seagulls failed to hold onto their lead as Jack Grealish rescued a point for Villa.
With that being said, Brighton have only lost one of their previous four league games and the general feeling is that the team is gradually improving under the guidance of Graham Potter.
Potter’s side are currently three points clear of the relegation zone after accumulating 25 points from 23 games. Despite Brighton’s lowly league position, their goal difference of –5 is the best of all the teams in the bottom half of the table.
However, the Seagulls have struggled on the road this season. Just eight of their 25 points have been claimed away from the Amex in 2019/20. Still, Bournemouth’s have the worst home record in the division.
It’s been less than a month since the two teams last met as Brighton claimed a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bournemouth at the end of December. But with both sides having played three league games since then, we are likely to see a different outcome this time around.
Bournemouth have been blighted by injuries this season and could have as many as nine first team players missing this week. Steve Cook is suspended following his red card in the previous round.
Brighton have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Bournemouth. Dan Burn continues to recover from a shoulder problem, while Jose Izquierdo is also close to making a return.
Expect a much tighter encounter than when the teams last met. Bournemouth are now fighting for survival and Brighton have struggled for goals in recent weeks.
Forebet predicts that both teams will get on the scoresheet. However, this tie is likely to end in a draw.