Match Preview – Plucky Little Bournemouth v Brighton
Bournemouth – the team
Plucky little Bournemouth are at the heart of the greatest fairy tale ever told. With nothing but a bag of magic beans, a billionaire Russian oligarch and financial fair play losses of £40m from the season they won promotion to the Premier League, they’ve risen from League Two to the top flight in just six years. This game represents the first ever meeting in the top division between Bournemouth and Brighton with the Sky Sports hype machine billing it as a “South Coast Derby despite us being nearly 100 miles apart. To put that in some perspective, it’s rather like saying Manchester United v Aston Villa is a local derby.
Bournemouth – the place
For some reason, plenty of supporters seem to think of Bournemouth as a must do away game. It’s really not. The ground is miles from the town centre and station and if you drive you can expect to be stuck in the car park at the end of a single lane road for anything up to two hours after the game. That is not where you want to be when the ball has just rolled under Wayne Henderson’s foot for a 91st minute Bournemouth winner. The town itself is decent and very Brighton-like in terms of partying, clubbing and being rammed with stag and hen parties so the only way its a must do trip is by overnight-ing it, which thanks to the Friday 8pm kick off has effectively been the only way if you don’t fancy car or coach.
Bournemouth – the people
I had to do a double take when reading this, but apparently Knocked Up and Pineapple Express actor Seth Rogen is a Bournemouth fan. This came about when he appeared on Soccer AM and, not having a team to support, he drew a side out of the hat which just so happened to be the Cherries. Slightly less famous is former Top of the Pops presenter Jayne Middlesmiss.
A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Bournemouth away
Our record at the Vitality Stadium is pretty abysmal. Without bothering to look on the ever reliable Soccerbase, the only win in recent memory there was a 2-0 Tuesday night victory in 2007-08 being notable for Bas Savage scoring and moon-walking in front of the away support.
A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Bournemouth away
The aforementioned Henderson-gate game was a pretty harrowing experience. The Albion number one miss-controlled and then slipped over a simple back pass, handing Brett Pittman an open goal and Bournemouth a 1-0 win in the final seconds. Henderson’s attempts to apologise to the away support at the end were met with a chorus of boos and he pushed through a move to Preston North End within a month, shortly after losing the gloves to Michel Kuipers. To make matters worse, it was New Years Day, we were hungover to hell and then got into an argument in the car park with a reasonably fit girl over Henderson’s cock up. Whenever we’ve seen her at away games since, she has been know as Henderson Girl. We even used NSC to try and set up a date with her at Southend away a few seasons later. Needless to say, she was a no show, much like her hero Wayne’s first touch.
Played for both
Gus Poyet sold both Tommy Elphick and Steve Cook to Bournemouth when the defensive duo were unable to get into the Albion team. They duly helped the Cherries from League One to the Premier League. Cook remains at the Vitality Stadium while Elphick, having captained that promotion winning Cherries team, is now at Aston Villa.
Dangermen
Jermaine Defoe joined Bournemouth from Sunderland in the summer and although he is yet to score for his new club, he almost always guarantees you 10-15 goals a season. Jordan Ibe is one of those players Howe bought with his magic beans – £15,000,000 worth of magic beans, no less – and whichever full back faces him could be in for a torrid evening.
Betting in association with https://sport.netbet.co.uk/football/
Bournemouth are yet to pick up a point so far this season, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous opponents. You’d imagine Chris Hughton will set out defensively at the Vitality Stadium and the draw makes appeal at 12/5. Glenn Murray has a fine record of scoring against his former clubs – as we know only too well FFS. You can back him to score anytime at 13/5 as, even if he starts on the bench, he is certain to appear at some point.
Our OLBG betting blog for Bournemouth v Brighton
Prediction
A score draw, probably 1-1. We never win in Bournemouth, after all.
