Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
3 is not the magic number for Bournemouth as of late as that is the amount of goals they have shipped in their last three matches across all competitions. Their lack of defensive quality has been an obvious concern for Eddie Howe over the past few weeks and he will hope that it’s not a trend that will continue with the visit of Watford this Afternoon.
Bournemouth’s league position of 11th going into this game is certainly not one that should be looked down upon but had The Cherries not been so generous at the back then their position would easily be in the top half of the table right now.
The reason they don’t find themselves in the Top 10 right now is thanks to their defeat to Hull at The KCom Stadium last Saturday. A win that saw Marco Silva make his managerial debut in the Premier League and what a debut it was as his side came from behind to end up winning the game 3-1 and earn three vital points.
After the F.A. Cup embarrassment the week before at Millwall when Eddie Howe made 11 changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Arsenal and then saw his side subsequently lose 3-0, this was not the bounce back in performance that Howe would have expected.
But Today they will look to put an end to those defensive lapses at the back as they play host to Watford. A side who are particularly short on form at present and the pressure is beginning to build on their Italian manager Walter Mazzari.
The Hornets come into this game not having won any of their last 6 league matches and they now find themselves 14th. Considering earlier on in the season they were in the Top 7 that is quite the slide down the table and fans of the club will hope that history is not repeating itself.
That’s because last season also saw a post Christmas slump down the table one that ultimately saw previous manager Quique Sanchez Flores lose his job over, yes the club may well have stayed up on their return to their top flight but the results after the turn of the year were last than impressive.
And it seems as if Watford under former Inter Milan manager Walter Mazzari are having the same trajectory of negative results right now. In a game which marked it’s respects to former boss Graham Taylor last Saturday, Watford could not get the ideal result.
That’s because they had to make do with a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road. Not a particularly pretty game by all accounts. One that highlighted a lack of form from Watford and still a lack of goals from Aitor Karanka’s men.
So with Bournemouth seemingly giving away goals for fun and Watford looking for a first win in 7 league matches, it’s a hard one to call. I think the home side may just edge this one as although they are leaking at the back they don’t have the same concerns at the other end of the pitch.
Therefore I think with that in mind it might just be enough to give Bournemouth the edge this Afternoon and perhaps move back into the top half of the table. The Cherries don’t seem to be suffering from ‘Second Season Syndrome’ but Watford need to take some medicine. A home win for me.
