Bournemouth v Crystal Palace Preview : Cherries need Home Points

Last Updated : 15th June, 2020 By Steve A

VENUE

Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth

TIME

Saturday 20 June 7.45pm

BROADCAST

Live on BBC1

See Stats

Live Premier League action returns to the BBC as Bournemouth host Crystal Palace looking for three vital points. The home side are in the relegation zone but their opponents still have dreams of European football next season.

Cherries Need to Maintain Winning Home Form

Bournemouth are 18th at the time of writing this preview and only in the bottom three on goal difference. That will change if Aston Villa can beat Sheffield United on Wednesday evening. If that happens, then Bournemouth will slip to 19th and be a point from safety.  Bournemouth made a promising start to the season with 11 points from their first seven games. it's all gone a bit wrong since then with only 16 from the next 22 and a form guide for the last ten games has them rock bottom.

They have managed to stay out of relegation trouble since winning promotion to the Premier League. That's all changed this season and three of their last four league games have been lost. All were on their travels though where 11 out of 15 games have been lost. They only have four away games left but those are against both Manchester clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton. With a fixture list like that, Bournemouth might need as many points as possible at home to avoid relegation.

They start off with this home game against Crystal Palace but the lowest placed team on their way to the Vitality Stadium is Southampton who are currently 14th in the table. Tottenham and Leicester City visit in the space of four days early next month. Bournemouth have only won four home league games, two of those coming in the weeks before suspension. Those victories came against Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa, both struggling to stay in the Premier League. Bournemouth drew with Chelsea in their last home league game taking their unbeaten run to three. They will be cursing not winning that game though as they led with five minutes remaining. Only 17 home league goals have been scored this season, more are going to be needed to keep them in the top-flight.

Palace in the Champions League?

You might scoff at the thought of Crystal Palace qualifying for the Champions League but it's not out of the question. A lot depends on whether Manchester City overturn their European ban. If not, fifth place would take a team into the world's top club competition and Palace are 11th but only six points adrift of that position. They are only four points behind sixth-placed Wolves so a good run-in could see them qualify for European competition.

Palace have won their last three league games but all against sides in the bottom half of the Premier League. Each win was by a 1-0 scoreline and four of their last five league games have only seen one goal scored. They do struggle for goals with only 26 in their 29 league fixtures. Jordan Ayew is their top scorer with eight this season but no one else has hit more than three. Ayew scored the winner in their last two league victories and will be a key player for them in the run-in.

Four away league games have been won but only 14 goals have been scored. Only five teams have scored less away goals than Palace. In all, their 14 away league games have 33 goals scored but four contributed 16,so just 17 in the other ten. 13 of their last 16 league fixtures have seen under 2.5 goals scored. Only once in their last seven on the road have they managed to score more than once. However, only twice in the last eight away games have teams scored more than once against them and one of those was Manchester City. A bet on under 2.5 goals looks the one to go for here.