What will be the Cherries’ reaction?

What it means to be back in the top flight was felt by Bournemouth last Saturday. The promoted side lost 9-0 away at Anfield Road to Liverpool and were shown the limits in all respects. After three defeats in a row with a total of 16 goals conceded and a drop to 17th place in the league table, the euphoria has long since faded. Already, the Cherries find themselves in the Premier League’s relegation battle.

It will be all the more important for coach Scott Parker’s side to show an immediate reaction during the week. In Bournemouth’s home match against Wolverhampton, however, the odds once again suggest that the opponent has the better prospects of a three-pointer. At the top, a 2.15 is currently being offered on the away win, which equates to an implied 46% probability of occurrence.

The home side should not be without a chance, however, as the red-and-blacks are up against an opponent who is not brimming with self-confidence either due to the way the season has gone so far. Strictly speaking, the Wolves even have one less point on their account than the hosts, which is why good arguments are needed to justify a prediction on the success of the visiting team before the clash between Bournemouth and Wolverhampton.

Bournemouth – Statistics & current form

From 2015 to 2020, Bournemouth stayed in England’s top flight. With long-time coach Eddie Howe, who is now at the helm of newly-rich Newcastle United FC, they even managed to finish in the top half of the table in 2016/17 with a ninth-place finish. After relegation a good two years ago, it only took two seasons before they made the leap back into the Premier League. With 88 points, second place and direct promotion from the Championship were secured.

The start to the new season was also extremely promising. At home against Aston Villa, the Cherries celebrated a 2-0 victory and thus also the first three points in the fight to stay in the league. So far, however, they have been the only points and also the only goals that the team of the current coach Scott Parker has been able to register.

Bournemouth not competitive of late

In the last three matchdays, the red and black team not only conceded three clear defeats with at least a three-goal difference, but also conceded a worrying total of 16 (!) goals and did not score any of their own. 0:3, 0:4 and 0:9 – these are the most recent results, which serve as the main reason for betting on the visitors between Bournemouth and Wolverhampton.

There is at least some hope in the fact that the Cherries have never lost two consecutive league home games under the management of Scott Parker, who took over in July 2021. However, this thesis is put into perspective by the fact that the 41-year-old Englishman will play only his second home game in the Premier League with his team on Wednesday evening. The quite solid-sounding home statistics are therefore based exclusively on the Championship level.

Although it can be assumed that the entire team will have set their sights high after the heavy defeat at the weekend and will be particularly motivated going into the upcoming match, in a certain sense we are denying the promoted team’s suitability for the top flight – at least at this point in time. Even the basically deserted casualty list doesn’t change that much, which at least allows the coach to draw almost from the full. Only Kelly and Pearson are still in doubt.

Predicted line-up of Bournemouth:
Travers; Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Zemura; Cook, Lerma, Billing; Christie, Solanke, Tavernier

Last matches played by Bournemouth:

Premier League
27/08/2022 – Liverpool FC 9 – 0 Bournemouth

Carabao Cup
24/08/2022 – Norwich (3)2 – 2(5) Bournemouth

Premier League
20/08/2022 – Bournemouth 0 – 3 Arsenal FC

13/08/2022 – Manchester City 4 – 0 Bournemouth

06/08/2022 – Bournemouth 2 – 0 Aston Villa

Wolverhampton – Statistics & current form

Is Sasa Kalajdzic moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers? This question is currently on the minds of not only the officials of both clubs and the Austrian himself, but also Carsten and I.

There is no question that Wolves could do with the tall centre-forward in their squad. In the first four match days, only West Ham United have scored fewer goals than the Orange and Blacks. The Wanderers have scored just two goals so far. No wonder, then, that the points tally is nowhere near the expectations of those in charge in the West Midlands.

When will Wolves break the deadlock?

None of the first four league games could be won. In addition to two draws at home against Fulham and Newcastle, Wolves lost their away games against Leeds (1:2) and Tottenham (0:1). As was the case last season, the number of goals scored in matches involving the Portuguese enclave in England’s thirteenth largest city is generally low. The 3.5 goal mark has not yet been broken, so it is worth checking the odds on an under-goal bet between Bournemouth and Wolverhampton.

Wolves have not lost their first three away games in the Premier League since 2003/04. Such a third successive defeat should be avoided at all costs for Bruno Lage’s team, as Wolverhampton have been relegated from the top flight in the motherland of football in the last three seasons when this scenario occurred.

The fact that the Wanderers have never lost to Bournemouth in the Premier League, have more individual quality, are much more stable defensively and have only lost three of their past 22 league games against promoted teams (13 wins, six draws) gives them confidence. In terms of personnel, the Portuguese coach is also spoilt for choice and has several options to adapt his starting eleven to the strain of an English week or to change it if necessary.

Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:
Sa; Jonny, Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Dendoncker, Neves, Nunes; Podence, Jimenez, Neto

Last matches played by Wolverhampton:

Premier League
28/08/2022 – Wolverhampton 1 – 1 Newcastle

Carabao Cup
24/08/2022 – Wolverhampton 2 – 1 Preston

Premier League
20/08/2022 – Tottenham 1 – 0 Wolverhampton

13/08/2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 0 Fulham

06/08/2022 – Leeds 2 – 1 Wolverhampton

Bournemouth – Wolverhampton Direct comparison / H2H record

The two teams have faced each other in twelve competitive matches in four different competitions so far. Wolverhampton lead the direct comparison with five victories. Bournemouth have won four and drawn three. None of the aforementioned four Cherries victories, however, came in the Premier League. There, Wolves have won three of the four duels so far. The Orange and Blacks also retained the upper hand twice in the last joint Premier League season in 2019/20. In both cases, by exactly one goal.

Bournemouth – Wolverhampton Tip

Two struggling fighters face each other on Wednesday night as part of matchday five in the English Premier League. The Cherries are coming off the back of a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool at the weekend, while Wolves are still looking for their first win and currently occupy second-to-last place in the standings.

Both teams are finding it particularly difficult to score goals. Parker’s side have failed to score three times in a row, while Wolves have only scored twice in total. Despite the 16 goals conceded by the home side, we would therefore rather focus on the betting odds on sub-par goals between Bournemouth and Wolverhampton.

If we had to settle on a winner, the choice would definitely fall more on the visitors. The Orange and Blacks have more individual class in their squad, have never lost to their upcoming opponents in the Premier League and, after a passable performance at home against Newcastle when they equalised just before the end, also have more confidence to show than the hosts, who have not necessarily been competitive lately.

We are therefore betting on an away win in the Bournemouth vs Wolverhampton clash.