Bournemouth for far too many seasons were dubbed a model club – a term that describes teams who don’t spend beyond their means and adopt some form of constructive play on the pitch.
Well, the biggest issue with having a blueprint is when, after years of it being in someone else’s hands, you don’t change a thing about the structure to stay fresh and extend your spell in the top tier.
More top tips for Sunday’s footy
- Are the wheels coming off at Wolves? Everton can cause a shock at Molineux today
- Our 3 best bets as struggling Aston Villa host Crystal Palace
- It’s the North London derby, but who will come out on top? Our 4 top tips for today’s cracker
- There’s life beyond the Prem! Our deadly double from the Championship today
- ‘We’re all going on a European tour’: Today’s continental acca takes us to Spain, Italy and Turkey
Bournemouth are about as predictable as a Graeme Souness rant when a player has a dodgy barnet and pulls out of a tackle.
The problem here is that they’re a possession-based team who don’t really have any clever footballers anymore.
Meanwhile, if there’s a team you do not want to play when you’re sloppy with the ball, it’s Leicester City.
This one might get ugly.
Leicester to Win
It’s not a bad price all considered is it?
The particularly strange thing about Bournemouth is that they’re not in the bottom three in either a home form table, nor an away form table.
They’re just not necessarily good in either situation, which, to me, lends to a lack of identity.
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There’s naturally enough individual ability in there to carve out the odd result, but it’s just not good enough to consistently produce.
Leicester, meanwhile have conceded the second-fewest amount of goals away from home in the Premier League this season. Why? Because they forego all build-up play and rely on the slightly more space they’re afforded on the break.
It’s Bournemouth’s own, well-intentioned bad habits that will bite them in the end.
Under 2.5 Goals
As previously stated, Leicester just don’t concede goals away from home.
So when you add in the nervous energy that will come with a game of this magnitude, it should be no surprise to see the teams go in scoreless at half-time, only for Leicester to blitz them in the second half when the Cherries’ full-backs bomb on and Leicester occupy those vacated spaces to run out winners.
Leicester City’s English striker Jamie Vardy (C) is denied a goal during the English League Cup semi-final first leg football match between Leicester City and Aston Villa at King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on January 8, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Jamie Vardy to Score 2 or More Goals
It just feels like he’s due a few doesn’t it? And this is a game perfectly set up for him – space, opposition desperation, late-game opportunities.
While there’s likely to be a relegation eulogy or too at the Vitality Stadium, they’ll have to wait until the Vardy Party is finished first.
Back the 33-year-old to end the season on a high as Champions League football begins to look a likelihood again.
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More top tips for Sunday’s footy
- Are the wheels coming off at Wolves? Everton can cause a shock at Molineux today
- Our 3 best bets as struggling Aston Villa host Crystal Palace
- It’s the North London derby, but who will come out on top? Our 4 top tips for today’s cracker
- There’s life beyond the Prem! Our deadly double from the Championship today
- ‘We’re all going on a European tour’: Today’s continental acca takes us to Spain, Italy and Turkey