Bournemouth Hope to Make Home Advantage Count
The final Premier League match of the weekend is played on Monday night. Bournemouth host Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium in a game both teams will believe they can win.
Bournemouth and Crystal Palace sealed their places in the next round of the League Cup in mid-week but know the Premier League is the priority. A win for Bournemouth could see them move as high as 5th in the table while a win for the Eagles could see them move above the Cherries and into the top half.
Despite two recent losses in the Premier League at Chelsea and Burnley, Bournemouth have been in good form and trends show they have won seven of their last ten games. They are unbeaten in eight of their last nine on home soil and are undefeated in their last six in all competitions at the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth have played five matches at home in all competitions this season, winning four and drawing one. There have been wins over Cardiff City and Leicester City in the Premier League plus two victories in the League Cup against Milton Keynes Dons and Blackburn Rovers.
Trends show Bournemouth have scored at least 2 goals in each of their five home games this season. However, they have also conceded 2 goals in three of those five matches and will be keen to tighten things up at the back.
Crystal Palace were held to a 0-0 draw at home against Newcastle United last weekend. It was a disappointing result for Roy Hodgson, who would have seen that game as the perfect opportunity to pick up another 3 points.
However, they bounced back to record a comfortable 3-0 home win against West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup on Tuesday night.
Interestingly, Crystal Palace appear to be playing better away from home this season and trends show they have won each of their last three away games in all competitions and have lost just one of their last nine on the road.
Crystal Palace have been impressive defensively away this season, keeping four clean sheets in their five away matches in all competitions. It will be interesting to see how the Crystal Palace defence copes with the attacking threat of Bournemouth.
Looking ahead to the team news and Bournemouth are still without Dan Gosling, Charlie Daniels and Kyle Taylor due to injury. Junior Stanislas played and scored in the League Cup this week and will come into contention for the starting XI.
Crystal Palace will travel without strikers Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham who are both injured. Defender Scott Dann is close to a return but James Tompkins and Mamadou Sakho are expected to keep their places in central defence.
Bournemouth will face a good test of their attacking talent against a defence which has proved difficult to break down away from home. We could see a very close game, with a draw and under 2.5 goals the potential final outcome.
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