Bournemouth vs West Ham Prediction

Ag shame, this looks like a proper mismatch on paper! Bournemouth are sitting comfortably in 9th place with 18 points, while West Ham are battling relegation in 18th with only 10 points. That's an 8-point gap between these teams, boet!

Bournemouth have been decent at home this season - winning 60% of their games at their own patch and only letting in 0.8 goals per home game. Sure, they took some proper hidings recently against the big boys (0-4 vs Villa, 1-3 vs City), but they've also shown they can score goals for fun - remember that 3-3 thriller with Palace and the 3-1 beating of Fulham?

West Ham... ja well no fine. They've been struggling big time, especially away from home where they've only won 20% of their games and are conceding 1.6 goals per match. They did show some life recently with back-to-back wins (3-2 vs Burnley, 3-1 vs Newcastle), but let's be honest - those aren't exactly top-tier opposition.

The head-to-head does worry me a bit - Bournemouth have never beaten West Ham at home in 4 attempts (0W-2D-2L), and lost 0-2 in their last meeting. But current form and home advantage should count for more here.

Both teams score similar amounts (1.4 per game), but Bournemouth's home defense is much tighter. West Ham's away defense is leaky as hell, and that's going to cost them against a team that's solid at home.

Time to fire up the braai and celebrate another three points for the Cherries!