Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth Match Prediction
England
Venue Craven Cottage
Fulham in their last game travelled to Turf Moor to face Burnley. The game couldn’t have started on a better note for Fulham as they raced to a quickfire 2-0 lead in the 1st half. They took the lead in the 17th minute as Palhinha headed in Andreas’ inswinging corner to beat James Trafford in goal. 4 minutes later they doubled their lead as Rodrigo Muniz was well aware of Trafford being off his line and chipped the ball over him delicately to find the net. Tosin should have made it 3-0 from another Andreas corner but his header was inches wide. Burnley started growing into the game from then on. David Datro Fofana scored in the 71st minute to get a goal out of nothing. They kept piling on the pressure and Fofana got his 2nd of the day as he took advantage of some poor defending from Tim Ream to pile a dagger through Fulham’s hearts.
Bournemouth welcomed a struggling Nottingham Forest side to the Vitality Stadium. The hosts took the lead in just 5 minutes as Sinisterra did well to apply a glancing touch onto Cook’s corner onto the far post. Kluivert was there to latch himself onto that and give his team the perfect start on the day. Both teams failed to create much from there but Forest got a goal before halftime through Callum Hudson Odoi.
The 2nd half also failed to provide any clear-cut chances for both sides with the drama only coming through when Billings was sent off with a straight red card after his studs were high onto the back ankle of Hudson Odoi. Both teams settled for a draw as Bournemouth saw off the last 6 minutes plus added time with 10 men. A disappointing result for Iraola and his Bournemouth team.
Facts:
- Fulham do not have the best of records playing Bournemouth in recent times. The Cottagers have won just 1 of their last 13 Premier League games against the Cherries, drawing 5 and losing 7. They last won against Bournemouth way back in 2019 at the Vitality Stadium.
- AFC Bournemouth head into Craven Cottage with quite a good record. The Cherries have failed to taste defeat at Fulham’s stadium since 1992 when both teams were playing in the third tier of English Football. They have played 8 away league games since then at Craven Cottage, winning 4 and drawing 4.
- Fulham have made it a record this season in the Premier League having failed to score in 10 games.
- In November and December, Bournemouth went on a run where they won 6 out of their 7 League games. However, in Jan and Feb, they find themselves having not won a single game in any of their last 4. They have drawn 2 and lost 2 of the 4 games.
Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth Chance of Winning
The recent head-to-head matchups between these two old guards of English Football have favoured the team from the South Coast of England. In the last 9 games between these two teams in all competitions, Bournemouth has 5 wins, and 3 games have ended in a stalemate with Fulham winning just 1 time.
Both teams have gone on a dry run result-wise and will want to get the better of each other to get some sort of a winning run going. Fulham have characteristically been one of those teams this season that have suffered from failing to convert their chances. And on a day when they do find the back of the net is the same day their defence concedes. Fulham need to find a perfect balance in their team. Both the defence and the attack need to take shared responsibility for getting the better of each other.
Bournemouth meanwhile were at one point scoring goals left right and centre. The free-flowingness of their football has taken a hit in recent games especially after Liverpool beat them 4-0 at home. That defeat has knocked them out a little bit. The quality has always been there in this Bournemouth side. Both teams go into this game with an equally good chance of winning but Fulham being the home team has the slight advantage as we do side with the oddsmakers in this one.
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Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth Predictions and Betting Tips
According to the majority of the betting outlets, this game has been tipped to be one of the closest games of the weekend to predict. Fulham are the marginal favourites heading into this game basically due to them playing at home. Bournemouth surprisingly have quite an identical record in their last 5 games when compared to Fulham. This game however has a big chance of swinging anyway. We will analyse all the numbers below and try to conclude to determine what could happen in this game.
In terms of their scoring form at home, Fulham have been average. The Cottagers have scored 1.73 goals this season at Craven Cottage in the Premier League. They have got this tally from an expected goals tally of 1.55, so they are marginally outperforming their xG. When it comes to Bournemouth, they are averaging 1.64 goals away from home this season. Their expected goals tally was 1.48 with the difference being quite similar to that of Fulham. Both teams have been going through some scoring blips as of late.
Based on these numbers we do not expect this game to be a very high scoring one. Both teams scoring under 3.5 goals is our call in this game. When it comes to conceding, we do expect both teams to score in this game. The Cottagers have conceded 1.09 goals on average at home this season. Bournemouth on the other hand have conceded 2.18 goals away from the Vitality Stadium this season. Fulham have kept a clean sheet in 36% of their home games this season and Bournemouth in just 18% of their away games. Both teams have a good scoring record at home and away hence we back both teams to score in this game.
In terms of scoring first, Bournemouth have the better record of breaking the deadlock with a 50% record in comparison to Fulham’s 30% record. This will be a tough one to call, however, we will back the underdogs here and predict that Fulham will be the 1st team to score at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Both Fulham and Bournemouth have scored 17% of their goals between the 81- and 90-minute mark of games. We do believe this could happen again in this game. Our pick is for Fulham to score after 80 minutes.
For Bournemouth in this game, we back Dominic Solanke to score. The Cherries attacker has also scored crucial goals for his team. Solanke this season has scored 13 goals out of which 11 have been either putting his team in the lead or scoring the equaliser. Solanke is a clutch player and in a game with fine margins like this, we back him to score.
For Fulham, we back Armando Broja to score in this game. The Chelsea player has joined on loan this January window and could be an X factor for Fulham going further into the season. Broja has a good nose for goal and at a team like Fulham, he could resurrect the form he had when he last played on loan for Southampton.
Final Prediction:Fulham to beat AFC Bournemouth
Fulham Player List
Goalkeepers: Marek Rodak, Bernd Leno, Steven Benda
Defenders: Kenny Tete, Calvin Bassey, Tosin Adarabaioyo, Fode Ballo-Toure, Tim Ream, Timothy Castagne, Issa Diop, Antonee Robinson
Midfielders: Harrison Reed, Tom Cairney, Andreas Pereira, Joao Palhinha, Sasa Lukic, Tyrese Francois, Luke Harris
Attackers:Harry Wilson, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Carlos Vinicius, Raul Jimenez Adama Traore, Rodrigo Muniz, Alex Iwobi, Armando Broja
Fulham Playing XI
|
Player |
Role |
|
Bernd Leno |
Goalkeeper |
|
Kenny Tete |
Defender |
|
Tosin Adarabaioyo |
Defender |
|
Calvin Bassey |
Defender |
|
Antonee Robinson |
Defender |
|
Joao Palhinha |
Midfielder |
|
Tom Cairney |
Midfielder |
|
Alex Iwobi |
Midfielder |
|
Andreas Pereira |
Attacker |
|
Armando Broja |
Attacker |
|
Bobby De Cordova-Reid |
Attacker |
Fulham Team Form(Last five games): D, D, L, W, L
AFC Bournemouth Player List
Goalkeepers: Neto, Darren Randolph, Andrei Radu
Defenders: Ryan Fredericks, Milos Kerkez, Lloyd Kelly, Chris Mepham, Adam Smith, James Hill, Marcos Senesi, Illia Zabarnyi, Max Aarons
Midfielders: Lewis Cook, David Brooks, Joe Rothwell, Ryan Christie, Alex Scott, Marcus Tavernier, Hamed Traore, Gavin Kilkenny, Philip Billing
Attackers:Dominic Solanke, Dango Ouattara, Justin Kluivert, Kieffer Moore, Antoine Semenyo, Jaidon Anthony, Emiliano Marcondes
AFC Bournemouth Playing XI
|
Player |
Role |
|
Andrei Radu |
Goalkeeper |
|
Max Aarons |
Defender |
|
Illia Zabarnyi |
Defender |
|
Marcos Senesi |
Defender |
|
Milos Kerkez |
Defender |
|
Ryan Christie |
Midfielder |
|
Joe Rothwell |
Midfielder |
|
Philip Billing |
Midfielder |
|
Antoine Semenyo |
Attacker |
|
Justin Kluivert |
Attacker |
|
Dominic Solanke |
Attacker |
AFC Bournemouth Team Form(Last five games): D, D, L, L, W
Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth Head-To-Head
Matches Played:38
Fulham wins:11
AFC Bournemouth wins:15
Matches are drawn:12
Fulham vs AFC Bournemouth Betting Odds
Fulham to win the match (PARIMATCH): 2.45.
AFC Bournemouth to win the match (PARIMATCH): 2.85.
Match to end in a draw (PARIMATCH): 3.65.
The betting odds have been calculated based on team performances in previous matches, player records etc. Odds are subject to change.
Our Prediction
Favorites to win
Fulham
Looking at both sides it is fair to suffice that Bournemouth are the better-oiled machine. Fulham may have an X factor up their sleeve with the signing of Armando Broja that could finally get them goals upfront. Our head tells us that this game is going to be a draw however we would have to back the home team in this game. We expect Fulham to bounce back and beat Bournemouth 2-1.
Parimatch