Bournemouth enjoyed a good start to last year’s Premier League campaign, and despite a drop off in form they managed to avoid relegation in their debut season in the top flight. This season has started less impressively.
They began with a a 3-1 loss at home to Manchester United and made it two in a row when they conceded a late goal at West Ham. They did manage to get a win over Morecambe in the League Cup, but a draw against Crystal Palace next time out left them with one point from their opening three Premier League matches.
Bournemouth got their first win of the season in a fairly drab 1-0 win over West Brom after the international break, but they predictably lost heavily to Manchester City last weekend. So far, their two big name arrivals Jack Wilshere and Jordan Ibe have failed to make an impression at the Vitality Stadium.
To make matters just that little bit worse they lost 3-2 at home to Preston North End in the League Cup on Tuesday, leaving them out of the cup and perilously close to the relegation zone in the league.
Everton also went out of the League Cup in midweek as the recently relegated Norwich beat them 2-0 at Goodison Park. However, unlike their opponents, Everton haven’t been plagued by a poor start to the league campaign.
They began the season under new management after Roberto Martinez’ dreadful season last year. Ronald Koeman came in to try and get the best out of their wealth of talent, and so far it has worked.
Everton drew at home to Spurs in the opening game of the season, but since then they have won every Premier League match against West Brom, Stoke, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough. They added in a 4-0 thrashing of Yeovil Town in the League Cup as well.
This fantastic start to the season leaves them unbeaten after five league matches and puts them in 2nd position in the table, only behind the perfect record of Manchester City. Things are certainly looking up on both sides of the Mersey.
Considering both sides starts to the season I think it’s safe to say that Everton are favourites. So far they have taken on all challengers, and whilst they haven’t had the most challenging of fixtures to deal with, they’ve done a good job. Things may be different against the top teams, but Bournemouth are not one of those top sides and I fully expect Everton to claim the three points. Odds of 11/10 for an Everton Win look incredibly good value as well, considering they have won four of their five league matches, so I’m backing that along with a 2-1 correct score prediction at 17/2.
Prediction Bournemouth vs Everton FC
Everton like their opponents on Saturday were shocked at home in the EFL Cup losing to Norwich (0-2). In a much changed side Everton paid the price for a poor performance and it's quite clear that Koeman doesn't have the quality in depth at his disposal.
Unlike Bournemouth, Everton's league form is very good winning 4 in a row and unbeaten all season (5 games). Everton have scored 3 goals in back to back league games and are averaging exactly 2 goals a game.
At the back 2 clean sheets in the last 3 league games is a plus and I expect this to improve with Williams getting up to full speed with his teammates.
Head To Head Bournemouth vs Everton FC
Everton have won two and drawn one of their three meetings with Bournemouth.
The last 5 matches of Bournemouth
17.09.2016 Manchester City - Bournemouth 4:0 L
10.09.2016 Bournemouth - West Bromwich Albion 1:0 W
27.08.2016 Crystal Palace - Bournemouth 1:1 D
21.08.2016 West Ham United - Bournemouth 1:0 L
14.08.2016 Bournemouth - Manchester United 1:3 L
The last 5 matches of Everton FC
17.09.2016 Everton FC - Middlesbrough FC 3:1 W
12.09.2016 Sunderland - Everton FC 0:3 W
27.08.2016 Everton FC - Stoke City 1:0 W
20.08.2016 West Bromwich Albion - Everton FC 1:2 W
13.08.2016 Everton FC - Tottenham Hotspur 1:1 D
Tag :
English Premier League
