Match Preview: Bournemouth v Brighton Round II
Over here at WeAreBrighton.com, we love the FA Cup. The tournament may be much-maligned these days, but it’s given us some brilliant footballing experiences down the years.
From Richard Carpenter’s free kick at White Hart Lane in 2005 to the mental scenes in the Villa Park away end when Tommy Elphick crashed home a header in 2010.
We’ve met John Barnes at Woking in a first round replay, been told to “f**k off” by Glenn Murray away at Torquay in the days before he was universally loved and saw one member of our traveling party drunkenly eat a frozen burger and then throw up in a bin outside of Plainmoor afterwards.
It says much about the prospect of a trip to Bournemouth that comes just two weeks after the Albion last suffered their standard defeat at the Vitality Stadium that even we’re struggling to find any enthusiasm about this one. It’s just a shit draw, isn’t it?
Who are Bournemouth?
Bournemouth were a football club founded in 1899 for the sheer purpose of inflicting misery on Brighton and Hove Albion. Their methods of doing so have included being the first club to visit the new and improved Goldstone Ground in 1949 and marking the occasion by hammering the Albion 6-1, being the side that relegated Brighton to the fourth tier for the first ever time in 1963 via a 1-0 win at Dean Court and being unbeaten in the fixture for the past 10 games stretching back 11 years now. They were most recently at it a fortnight ago when winning 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
What are they like now?
The Cherries are having a good season and are currently one point and one position better off than the Albion. Eddie Howe has a talented squad at his disposal as, despite the media’s claims that he is some sort of miracle worker who has bought Bournemouth through the divisions with nothing but a set of beans, the club are handsomely bankrolled by Russian oligarch Maxim Demin. With both Howe and Chris Hughton certain to prioritise Premier League points over an FA Cup run, it seems likely that both will pick second string sides and the game will therefore be decided by who was the deeper squad. With two more seasons of top flight football under their belts to stockpile talent, that should in theory be Bournemouth.
Which players should we be worried about?
Only an expert in Bournemouth’s reserve side would be able to tell you that. Looking through their players who haven’t featured too regularly so far this season, a couple of names stand out. Jordan Ibe has played just eight league games but all four in the Carabao Cup which suggests he should feature. Albion fans may recall him changing the game when introduced as a substitute when the Cherries won 2-1 in last season’s Premier League meeting at the Vitality Stadium. Jermaine Defoe was on target that day and given that he has featured only four times in the Premier League so far, he could also be given a start presuming a rumoured move to join Connor Goldson at Rangers in the Scottish Pub League hasn’t gone through by then.
What’s the Albion’s record against Bournemouth like?
In 116 meetings, Bournemouth have won 48, Brighton 38 and their have been 30 draws. In terms of the FA Cup, the sides have met twice. The first time was in the third round in 1988 when Brighton won 2-0 at the Goldstone through Doug Rougvie and Garry Nelson to set up a glamour tie with top flight Arsenal. The second occasion saw the Cherries gain a measure of revenge with a 4-2 win at Dean Court in the first round in 1993, a game noted for both how wet it was and the fact that Andy Kennedy defied his status as a donkey to score twice for Brighton.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Bournemouth away?
Our only victory there in the past 25 years came when Bas Savage and Dean Cox scored in a 2-0 win in September 2007. Given the WeAreBrighton.com team were students at the time and Bournemouth is renowned for being a party town, it seems like a missed opportunity that we didn’t take advantage of the game being on a Tuesday by having a cheeky night out after.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Bournemouth away?
Being forced to go there to watch their reserves beat out reserves in the FA Cup third round just two weeks after their first team had beaten our first team in the league. Let’s face it, it’s probably what is going to happen.
Whose played for both sides?
Bournemouth paid Crystal Palace £5m for the services of Glenn Murray before loaning and then flogging him to the Albion. Remarkably, Howe never rated the centre forward which is something that he has gone to shove down his former-managers neck with a couple of goals against the Cherries in subsequent meetings. More of the same on Saturday please, Glenn.
Other than football, what is Bournemouth famous for?
The King of Jungle only bloody lives there! ‘Arry Redknapp and Sandra hail from the town and Redknapp was even seen wandering around the car park of the Vitality before our visit a fortnight ago. It is also home to Brewhouse Bar and Kitchen, a bar that recently won an award for being the pub which smells most like a rabbit hutch in the whole of the United Kingdom.
Where’s the betting value for Bournemouth v Brighton?
A draw and the prospect of a Tuesday night replay at the Amex is an absolute bloody nightmare scenario, but it’s actually quite likely. The two club’s reserve sides needed extra time to separate them in the Carabao Cup last season and you can pick a similar stalemate after 90 minutes with Novibet betting at 12/5.
Prediction
A 1-1 draw and the opportunity for some loyalty points harvesting when both sides have to meet for a third time in 24 days in a replay back in Sussex.
