Brighton at Bournemouth 1/5/19 - FA Cup Picks & Predictions
The next round of the FA Cup is set to be played this week, and two Premier League sides will clash against one another on Saturday when Bournemouth will play host to Brighton. If the match ends in a draw the two teams will play a second leg.
Bournemouth were really solid at some point in the season but they have really fallen off in recent months. In their last match they met a really bad loss on the road against Manchester United, falling by a harsh 1-4. Prior to that they lost to Tottenham by another massive 0-5 and they have now lost nine of their last 11 matches in all competitions. They have actually been excellent at home so far in the season (8-3-2 in all competitions) but all three losses came in their last five. Brighton finally caught a break in their last match where they beat Everton by a slim 0-1 at home. They scored the only goal of the match at the 59th minute but fought hard to hold on to the result. They really needed that win as prior to that they were win-less in four (0-3-1). Brighton have been one of the weakest teams on the road so far in the Premier League, having won just two of their 10 matches so far (2-7-1). They have only scored in half of their away matches and have only kept a single clean sheet.
This will be the second match of the season between the two teams, and the second in this venue. Bournemouth won here by 0-2 earlier in the season and have been excellent against Brighton in recent years (5-0-5 in the last 10). Moreover, they have been great as hosts (6-1-3). Bournemouth have a great chance to move through here, so I will back them up.