Brighton plays at home and has big problems in PL standings. Both teams need to win
Bournemouth has big problems
Bournemouth look in trouble as a run of four defeats ‘to nil’ in the Premier League has seen them drop into the relegation zone. All four losses saw them trail at half-time, something they’ve now done a joint-league high ten times this Premier League campaign, losing on each occasion. At home, things don’t look much better, with the ‘Cherries’ currently enduring a five-game winless Premier League run. Just two of those games saw Bournemouth find the net, which is little surprise as their average of 0.91 goals scored per Premier League home match is the league’s joint-lowest ahead of the round.
Brighton needs Win
Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at the weekend extended their own Premier League winless run to three games and made it five competitive games in a row to produce under 2.5 goals. Despite that, there could be goals at both ends – six of the ‘Seagulls’ last seven Premier League road trips saw both teams score. The visitors will look for a solid start considering they’ve won two of the three Premier League away games in which they were leading at half-time and lost all four in which they were trailing. However, it’s worth noting that Brighton is yet to score in the opening 15 minutes on the road this league campaign.
Players to watch
Callum Wilson’s last four goals came after half-time – three were as Bournemouth’s previous scorer. Meanwhile, Neal Maupay has been Brighton’s first goalscorer in four of the last six Premier League games he’s found the net.
Stat attack: Three of Bournemouth’s last four competitive home fixtures saw a goal after the 80th minute.
Brighton has netted the opener five times on the road this Premier League campaign, but have won just twice when doing so.
Bournemouth is yet to score in the first or last 15 minutes of their Premier League home games this season.
Mising players
From Bournemouth: Brooks, Cook, Daniels, Groeneveld, King, Mepham, Stacey, Stanislas. Questionable: Kelly with Thigh Injury.
From Brighton: Balogun, Burn and Izqueirdo.