Brighton & Hove Albion vs AFC Bournemouth
English Premier League, KO: 15:00 Feb 4, 2023, Amex Stadium
Brighton & Hove Albion continue their quest for a European finish as they host relegation threatened Bournemouth on Saturday.
Brighton are already having a solid campaign but appear to have hit their stride since the turn of the year. They are just five points off the top six and are unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions, claiming four wins in that run.
The Seagulls were particularly impressive in their FA Cup fourth round clash as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Liverpool. It was a good return to winning ways for Roberto De Zerbi’s men, who had thrown away the lead in a 2-2 draw with Leicester City last time out in the Premier League.
With Kaoru Mitoma looking particularly impressive, the goals have flowed freely for Brighton, who can count a 3-0 victory over Liverpool and a 4-1 win over Chelsea among their recent home results. However, they remain suspect defensively having kept just one clean sheet in their last five matches in front of their fans.
Having crashed out of every other tournament this season, Bournemouth's task for the rest of the campaign will be to focus on their battle against relegation. However, they are yet to enter survival mode and are winless in their last seven matches across all competitions, suffering six defeats in that run.
Manager Gary O’Neil will be keen to take the positives from their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last time out which ended a run of six straight defeats. However, throwing away Jaidon Anthony’s early effort with just seven minutes left to play is not a sign of a team ready to beat the drop.
Things have been particularly bad for Bournemouth on their travels having won just once away from home this season. They have lost their last five matches on the road, failing to score in four of those defeats.
How the bookies view it
Brighton have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 7/19 with SBK. A victory for Bournemouth is valued at 8/1 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 4/1 by BetVictor.
Head to head
Bournemouth have a 12-8 advantage with 8 draws from 28 previous matches with Brighton. The Seagulls claimed a 2-0 victory in the last meeting at the Amex Stadium back in 2019.
Players to watch
Kaoru Mitoma has been pivotal in Brighton’s fine showings this season and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The attacker has four goals in his last six matches and is priced at 2/1 by Unibet to get on the score sheet.
Bournemouth have not been particularly prolific this season but will be hoping to capitalise on Brighton’s defensive vulnerability. Kieffer Moore is their top scorer with four goals and is priced at 5/1 with bet365 to find the net on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
The one-sided victories over Chelsea and Liverpool should give Brighton plenty of attacking confidence and they could be tipped in the -1 handicap market at evens with BoyleSports. The Seagulls could also be backed to score in both halves at 11/10 with bet365.
There could also be some value in the goals market with Unibet offering odds of 23/20 on both teams to score. Over 2.5 goals is valued at 8/11 by bet365 while over 3.5 goals is priced at 13/8 by William Hill.
This English Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth will be played on Feb 4, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Brighton & Hove Albion vs AFC Bournemouth prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
