Premier League: Cherries will leave Wolves with a Bitter Taste

Bournemouth vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to meet at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, both aiming to shake off an opening day defeat. 

They couldn’t have had it much harder on the first weekend of the new campaign as Andoni Iraola’s Cherries visited champions Liverpool and, after giving the Merseysiders an almighty scare they eventually succumbed 4-2. Meanwhile Vitor Pereira’s Wolves suffered a humbling defeat at home to Manchester City in their opener.

So this fixture, Premier League: Bournemouth vs Wolves, gives both teams a better chance to get off the mark, but I think the Cherries hold all the cards which, if they play them right, will result in a confident home win.   

 

Talking Points

Bournemouth are tooling up 

An away date at Liverpool was hardly the ideal start for Iraola’s men but they came away from Anfield with a huge amount of credit as they roared back from a two goal deficit to level, as Antoine Semenyo scored two superb goals. The Cherries held out until the 88^th minute only to be undone by two late Red strikes and, with plenty of positives to take away from this game they will take on Wolves with renewed optimism. 

It has been a busy transfer window on the South coast, beginning with the big money departures of centre back Dean Huijsen and wingback Milos Kerkez, to Real Madrid and Liverpool. Bournemouth moved to replace Huijsen with the purchase of centre back 

Bafode Diakite in a £35m move from Lille and they also picked up fullback Adrien Truffert from Stade Rennes. Keeper Djordje Petrovic moved south from Chelsea and, despite shipping four goals to Liverpool, the Cherries have the basis of a quality back line. 

This week Iraola has moved to strengthen the creative unit and Bournemouth have signed 19 year old winger Ben Doak from Liverpool in a £25m five year deal. The highly rated young star spent last season on loan at Championship club Middlesbrough, scoring three goals and making seven assists in 24 appearances and, while he is unlikely to break straight into the first eleven, Doak already has the potential to be an exciting impact sub.  

And, on Tuesday, the Cherries reached an agreement to sign creative midfielder Amine Adli from Bayer Leverkusen at a cost of £25m, and he and Doak will join an attacking unit which also boasts Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and David Brooks.  

 

Worrying times for Wolves

While the Cherries have worked hard in the transfer window to avoid being weakened, always a risk for the less fashionable clubs who unearth top talent, Wolves have struggled, and, after a 16^th placed finish last term, they do look weaker at the moment, putting in a poor show against an admittedly impressive Manchester City. 

The club has lost striker Matheus Cunha, and midfielders Rayan Ait Nouri and Goncalo Guedes, and former skipper Nelson Semedo. They are four big losses, while, on the way in, Wolves has welcomed wingback David Wolfe from AZ Alkmaar, 21 year old midfielder Fer Lopez from Celta Vigo and Colombian striker Jhon Arias from Fluminese; but the manager wants more support from the club’s owners.   

Pereira won many plaudits for his leadership in the second half of last season but he is clearly concerned with the state of his current squad, saying: “The club knows that we need some positions. My job is not to sign players but they are working I hope until the end of the market.” But, in pre-match Bournemouth vs Wolves news, the Molinuex club may be fighting to keep hold of another of their stars as Newcastle United have begin to sniff around striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, while the Magpies prepare to lose their own striker Alexander Isak.      

 

History 

In the 13 previous meetings between Bournemouth and Wolves there have been five wins each and three draws, while both teams have scored 14 goals.   

In terms of recent form neither team had a great pre-season, the Cherries started well in the Premier League summer series with a 3-0 win over Everton but then they were slapped 4-1 by Manchester United and beaten 2-0 by West Ham United.  

In pre-season Wolves picked up draws with Burnley and Stoke City and then lost to Celta Vigo, Girona and RC Lens; and the Bournemouth vs Wolves betting odds don’t hold out much hope for the All Golds.    

 

Betting Tip

Bournemouth are the clear favourites to win this clash at SBOTOP odds of 1.77, with the draw at 3.70 and a Wolves win is the outside chance at 4.40. I don’t think this will be pretty for the visitors; and I expect their hosts to get after them very quickly.   

   

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