Brighton vs Bournemouth prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-09-23 13:00.
Roberto De Zerbi will be hoping a return to the more familiar surroundings of the Premier League (PL) will see Brighton & Hove Albion get back to winning ways again. The Seagulls were stunned as they made their European debut on Thursday night, losing 3-2 to AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League, with their head coach admitting “experience” was a big factor in his side’s defeat.
The Italian boss will now be hoping their continental adventures have no impact on the team’s domestic form, as they look to build on back-to-back 3-1 victories over Newcastle United and Manchester United. Indeed, Brighton’s tally of 12 points from five games (W4, L1) is their joint-best start to a league campaign since 2015/16, the year before they were promoted to the top flight.
Looking to bring them down a peg or two are south coast rivals Bournemouth, whose 5-0 victory at the Amex in 2019 is their biggest-ever away PL win. The Cherries could desperately do with finding that kind of form in this clash, given that they have picked up just three points from five matches so far this term (D3, L2), although successive draws against Brentford and Chelsea in their two most recent outings are encouraging.
The latter of those results was certainly a step in the right direction for manager Andoni Iraola, who praised his team for “probably the most complete game we’ve played”. The Spaniard, who took the reins this summer, will now be hoping to register a first league win of his tenure, while also ending a run of four successive PL away matches without a victory for his new club (D1, L3).
Key battle: Danny Welbeck netted in Brighton’s 3-1 victory over ex-employers Man United last week, extending his record to 15 goalscoring appearances without defeat since April 2021 (W9, D6). He may be looking to get the better of Bournemouth right-back Max Aarons, who failed to win any of his three career H2Hs (D1, L2) when at Norwich City, with the Canaries failing to score a single goal in those encounters.
Hot stat: Bournemouth are yet to score a single league goal between the 31st and 76th minute this season.