Bournemouth vs Middlesbrough prediction

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The Vitality Stadium will host Saturday’s football match between Bournemouth and Middlesbrough. The Cherries aim to bounce back from a heavy 4-0 loss to Tottenham, while this has to go down as a must-win game for the relegation-threatened visitors. To find more predictions on the upcoming Premier League round. We recommend you to click here

Can AFCB pull off a big victory like when these
teams last played at Dean Court in the Championship?

Cherries aim to escape danger zone

Bournemouth have been having their ups and downs this season and their current form is anything but good. The Cherries are on a four-game winless run in the Premier League and they experienced all sorts of problems at the back in the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. Eddie Howe’s troops do not seem to be on top of their game, but it has to be noted that they faced a tough fixture list earlier in April. Bournemouth are seven points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the visit of Middlesbrough and a win over Steve Agnew’s troops would see the hosts move one step closer to securing yet another top flight survival. Key attacker Callum Wilson remains in the recovery room and in his absence Benik Afobe is widely expected to lead the line for the hosts against Boro.

Goalkeeper Adam Federici is out of contention with a knee injury, whilst the likes of Andrew Surman and Callum Wilson remain on the sidelines. Jack Wilshere has a fracture and won't be able to face Middlesbrough.  

Alarming situation at Riverside Stadium

Despite producing a fine display in Monday’s game against Arsenal, Middlesbrough eventually suffered a 2-1 loss to Arsene Wenger’s troops at their Riverside Stadium. The newcomers extended their winless run in the league to 15 games and, no doubt, they are low on confidence ahead of the trip to Bournemouth. The Boro’s Premier League status is in great danger and a number of football predictions suggest that they will return to the Championship at the end of the season. Middlesbrough face a must-win situation in Saturday’s clash against Bournemouth and the visitors are likely to leave their hearts on the field this time out. Steve Agnew’s men are six points behind Hull City, who are safe for now, but a victory over Cherries at Vitality Stadium would help the team keep their hopes of securing the elite division survival alive. Alvaro Negredo scored in the 2-1 loss to Arsenal and the Spanish attacker will be the man to watch in the away team.

The likes of Fabio and Grant Leadbitter should be fit to face Bournemouth, meaning that coach Eddie Howe is likely to have a full squad to choose from for Saturday’s game. Adama Traore is pushing for a start. 

Prediction

Both Bournemouth and Middlesbrough are desperate to return to winning ways and a lively contest appears on the cards. The Cherries are after their eighth home victory of the season and they are likely to find the net in Saturday’s match. The Boro, on the other hand, have no other choice but to go all guns blazing at Bournemouth on Matchday 34 and, taking everything into account, both teams to score bet should be considered.

This match prediction is written in collaboration with FootballPredictions.com and we do recommend you to see more of their work on their website!

Yann Kermorgant is very precise from the spot

When you analyse the Birmingham game the role of Yann Kermorgant may have not seemed that significant at first sight as Callum Wilson was the player who equalised and then won a penalty to set the Cherries on their way to victory. However it was Yann Kermorgant with the clever turn and needle through an eye pass to get Callum away and free for AFCB's second goal and Yann again who hooked the ball on to Wilson to win a penalty which Yann himself made no mistake with.

Crowd reaction in the Steve Fletcher stand as
Yann Kermorgant tucks away the penalty against Birmingham City.

The Frenchman has not attracted so many headlines of late, but he is quietly going about his business and he has to fight hard for his place in the team with Brett and now Kenwyne pressing for a start. 

Yann still has a few more goals in him this season I reckon.

His coolness at the penalty spot is something that certainly has been helping the team to get wins and I don't remember a season when the Cherries have had so many penalties awarded to them. I don't recall Yann doing anything much differently when he steps up for a penalty but he always strikes the ball so firmly that keepers don't seem to be able to keep his shots out from 12 yards even if they work out which way he is going. he has by far the best penalty record at the club and it is a bit surprising that anyone else is allowed to get a  look in. It is also two penalties scored in his last three games having also netted against Middlesbrough. By the way Yann scored the late penalty to beat Brighton back in November. 

In all Yann has put 6 away goals from the penalty spot from his 15 goals which puts him just two behind Grant Leadbitter of Middlesbrough who is the lead scorer on eight, and in the following games his penalty was the decisive goal.

3 March 2015 AFCB 2 v 1 Wolves
1 November 2014 AFCB 3 v  2 Brighton 

Yann has only missed one spot kick at Leeds Utd this season when he hit the bar, but his record is pretty amazing. His game though is more than that as we have seen and he also has a very good chance of being the club's second highest scorer this season as he is one goal ahead of Brett Pitman and just five behind Callum Wilson.

The Cherries can make it really tough for Boro

Middlesbrough have hung in well in the Championship race, but this week just might see them just start to struggle to hold on with Watford. It is not that AFCB are ratcheting up their title bid by improving their home performances, Boro have four home games left which is a help but they have Watford and Norwich still to face on their travels. Having fought a hard match against Derby in midweek and Ipswich just three days before that, it has been a very testing period for Middlesbrough which they have come through well, but perhaps this next hurdle will be too high for them.

AFCB will go into the match with plenty of confidence having picked up their home performances after a difficult February and they can see the finishing line getting closer if they can win this match and get a positive result at Ipswich. Middlesbrough and other teams might then be hoping for other teams to do them a favour. It is important that the Cherries do make it a hard match against Boro as they have been under the most intense pressure with so many top of the table clashes in a row. 

AFCB v Boro last season.

Boro are a very strong team and we have seen their key players like Patrick Bamford, Grant Leadbitter and Albert Adomah come to the fore in recent weeks. Now their supporters will be wondering if they can sustain it. That has been the one thing that has kept them from forging ahead in this league. The odd defeat to Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds in recent weeks has just clipped their wings and while they fought back with a terrific performances against Ipswich and Derby, a defeat to AFCB might be harder for them to recover from with the international break coming before the next match.

As always the crowd will be important for this home match and AFCB fans have to raise the roof if they want the team to deliver a result that can take them closer to their dream. There is no place for nervous quietness or silent expectancy. The Cherries will need every supporter to get right behind them to help them get the points. Boro are a very talented team and we saw how well they played against AFCB at the Riverside and it is important that they are not allowed to get their noses further in front. This is the match that can push AFCB much further towards the automatic places and AFCB fans need to shake the rafters and bring the passion to this early starting match - today is the day! Let's give the team the support they need to put this Championship rival on the floor. UTCIAD!

Top of the table clash: Boro v Cherries bring it on

What a big tie we have coming up this weekend. Forget keeping off the radar, AFCB are going to be slogging it out with Middlesbrough at the top of the Championship for the chance to lead the table going into the international break. The Boro have also been on a good run of late, picking off Norwich and Rotherham ad drawing with Watford with Wolves their only defeat in their last 10 matches

Boro are going well and could go top so expect a very difficult game.

Like the Cherries, Boro have had four defeats but have conceded fewer goals. Boro's 4-0 win against Norwich is the result that made me rub my eyes in mid-week. It was a massive win for them and striker Grant Leadbitter grabbed a couple of goals on the night, including one from the spot. Lee Tomlin though was the creator and the cause behind much of the Canaries problems in that game setting up Leadbitter for his second. For once Enrique Garcia Martinez did not score but he is there No9 and one that the Cherries will also have to keep close tabs on along with Patrick Bamford who is on loan from Chelsea and getting among the goals. Albert Adomah is another player that has been highly rated in their side but he came off after 49 minutes on Tuesday.

Karanka has got the Boro playing extremely well and I don't think there will be a tougher away match for the Cherries to face this season. It is not every day that you get first playing second and while the Cherries are away from home I expect them to put up a good fight. Ryan Fraser expressed in his post-match interview after the Sheffield Wednesday match that they want to stay top and that will mean they have to go for the win with so many chasing sides close behind them. Boro have not lost at hoe since losing to Reading 0-1 on 30 August.

Middlesbrough Home Form:
WDWDW

AFCB Away Form:
DLWWW

Congratulations to Eddie Howe and Callum Wilson for picking up their SkyBet Manager and Player of the month awards!

Rival Lines: Cherry Chimes talks to Anthony Vickers' untypical Boro

Rival Lines
Blogger Interview: Anthony Vickers' Untypical Boro
Match Preview: Middlesbrough v AFCB

Middlebrough players
at Dean Court last season.

When Cherry Chimes asked Anthony Vickers to answer some questions ahead of the Middlesbrough v AFCB match neither of us expected the clubs to be placed one and two in the Championship, but the form of both teams has seen them position themselves above the pundits' more favoured teams. Anthony Vickers' Untypical Boro blog has been busy making the headlines, but what does he think about whether Boro have the long term credentials to challenge for the Championship title?

CC: Do you feel Aitor Karanka is a much better manager than a year ago?

AVUB: He's always been a good manager. He adapted to the relentless grind of the Championship very quickly and got to grips with the strengths and weaknesses of his squad quickly too. After a shaky start of one win in five, Boro have made progress by the month, although it has been steady rather than spectacular.

The first thing was to shore up a defence that was leaking goals - two in the first 12 minutes up here against Bournemouth last year. Two stupid self-inflicted penalties was pretty much the norm before he arrived - and he managed that quickly by changing the shape. The cost of that was an eight game run without scoring and that became "the story" for a spell, but that run also included six clean sheets which was part of laying down the foundations.

Boro finished last season with six wins out of eight, then over the summer Karanka had the chance to bring in the players he wanted, players with the skill set that suited his system. So I don't think he is a better manager but he now has the tools to do the job.

CC: Grant Leadbitter and Garcia Martinez have been doing well, do you always feel confident about them sticking away their chances?

AVUB: Boro fans would say that Kike (Garcia) misses too many chances but that is an occupational hazard, while five of Leadbitter's goals have been penalties. But they all count. Taking the goals out of the equation, both of those players have been very effective: Leadbitter is a determined driving force who can grab a game by the throat while Kike is a technically superb player with deft touches and perhaps does his best work deeper, linking up and bringing people into play.

Boro struggled to score at the start of the season, but as the new players gel they are creating and taking more chances with the goals being shared around. Which is nice.

CC: Was the League Cup match against Liverpool an indication of how far the team has progressed under Karanka?

AVUB: Looking at Liverpool's current stifling mediocrity it is hard to say. But at the time it was a fantastic ego boost to go to a Champions League side with £30m worth of strikers up front and only lose over 120 minutes by the odd goal in 31.

It was more a sign of the mentality of what is a relatively young and inexperienced squad that they weren't in the slightest bit overawed at Anfield. They got stuck in, they did themselves proud and came away buzzing from the experience. It was a good day out for the fans too.

CC: Would it be good for your players to experience being top of the league or do you think it would put too much pressure on them at this stage?

AVUB: The public party line is that "it is nice just to be in touch at this stage" but I think the manager would like to be able to lead from the front. I don't think the pressure would be an issue. At Boro there is more pressure in not being up there and challenging. A lot of fans who grew up with Premier League superstars demand that. Being top would certainly help reignite the lapsed loyalists who have drifted away disillusioned by five fruitless years in the Championship.

CC: Is the team more suited to playing away at the moment on the break?

AVUB: I think they probably are. They have the pace to really hurt teams on the counter and means they need the opposition to push forward a bit to create space. Away the onus is on the opposition to attack and Boro have exploited that. Boro have only lost twice away (Leeds and Wolves) and only conceded more one goals once (at Wolves.)

At home when sides have come to park the bus they have struggled to find space, get behind them and create chances and early on found that frustrating. In more recent games they have had more joy, especially when the visitors tried to play football - Brentford, Watford and Norwich - and have managed to impose their own styles.

CC: Who has been the best player for you so far?

AVUB: It's hard to pick out individuals because that the team has been so effective no matter who plays. Adam Clayton and Grant Leadbitter have been excellent in midfield and the full-backs George Friend and Ryan Fredericks have been potent outlets too. Adam Reach has improved dramatically In recent weeks while Patrick Bamford has been superb in the last few.

CC: Albert Adomah and Adam Reach have come in from a lot of praise on the wings so has Middlesbrough become a better crossing team?

AVUB: Yes, I think so. Reach has matured in the past year and is far more productive while Adomah seems to have upped his work-rate and while he is not scoring so freely, arguably he is far more effective for the team. The full-backs have also over-lapped and put good crosses in too. Plus, more importantly, Boro are getting more bodies into the box onto the end of crosses.

CC: How impressive has Konstantopoulis been in goal?

AVUB: He's no world-beater but golden oldie Dimi is solid and dependable, has plenty of experience and seems to organise his defence well. At the back end of last season and from when he stepped in this term after five games, he has an impressive clean sheet record. He complements a hard working defence.

CC: Karanka said Boro should have beaten Watford as you had the chances, so do you think you will buy a striker in January and who do you think could be a good buy?

AVUB: No, I don't think Boro will add a striker. With Kike, Bamford and Vossen (yet to really show what he can do) Boro are well equipped up front. There are plenty of wide men and midfielders too. Possibly they may think about a central defender (although Veljkovic has arrived on loan from Spurs and we haven't seen him yet) and if Dimi were to get injured they may be forced to bring in a first choice keeper. The squad is strong enough I think.

CC: Are you at all surprised with where Boro is in the league this season?

AVUB: No, personally I expected them to be top six and challenging. They finished very well last season and added strength in depth so I think there was an expectation within the club that they would be among the leaders from the off. Once bitten, twice shy - fans may not all have shared that view but certainly inside the camp that was always the target.

CC: What is your score prediction for the Bournemouth match?

AVUB: I'd take a draw right now. This season Boro have played better against "footballing" sides so I'd hope for a good performance and an entertaining game but low scoring. 1-1?

Thank you Anthony for some very detailed answers on how the Middlesbrough team is playing and lots of views on their strengths and weaknesses (not too many of those). I am hopeful that this early season top of the table clash does not disappoint in terms of entertainment. AFCB do go at teams away from home and will play their fast breaking football so if Boro also go looking for goals it could be a real thriller. There is not a harder place for the Cherries to go this season and even though the team has been on a fantastic winning run I don't think a draw would be a bad result. Even if the Cherries were to lose they would still be in the top six which is a great place to be in having been 11th at the last international break.

For more of Anthony's views take a gander at his Anthony Vickers' Untypical Boro blog.  

Did the Cherries look tired against Boro?

It was put to Eddie Howe after the Boro draw that perhaps some of the players looked a bit tired after their exertions on the day and in previous days. I didn't think they played that badly at the end having seen the team grow during the match and if anything looked the fitter and only team that were likely to go on to win the game in the second half. The fact that there were not so many shots on goal as in recent home matches was much more to do with how well Middlesbrough set up and played.

Shattered? I bet they players can't wait to be named in the team for Tuesday night.

AFCB had to play well at times just to hold the aggression and power in Boro's play. The wing play of Carayol was very good while Grant Leadbitter was a dominant force in midfield who read the game so well. He, Omeruo and Gibson knew where they had to be when there was danger and they blocked out the Cherries with a great deal of skill. 

Coulibaly was given an hour which is fair enough for his first start having been out for virtually the whole season and Fraser and Pugh got more minutes under their belt with Ritchie also being replaced to freshen up the last half hour. I still thought Grabban was full of running while Arter and O'Kane went the distance again.  

You can make excuses about Middlesbrough having an extra days rest and AFCB having had a hard week of travel, but I don't see that as the main reason for a slight fall off in sharpness in front of goal or final passes in the last third.

As Eddie Howe said: "There's no negativity in my mind. It's another clean sheet, that's an excellent achievement and not only the clean sheet, I don't think that they have had a chance really bar Tomlins' one that he's hit over. I don't think they've had another good opportunity."

"We never really cut them open," said Eddie. "We probably turned down a few shooting opportunities when we should have pulled the trigger. There were a lot of set-pieces but nothing dropped for us."

Eddie did admit though that time caught up with the team at the end of the game. "We looked dead on our feet in the last 10 minutes, but that's only to be expected. We'll actually both teams were pretty tired. It's that stage of the season," he said.

You can watch the Football League Awards 2014 tonight by visiting their YouTube channel or by visiting their Facebook page or AFC Bournemouth's YouTube channel. Steve Fltecher will be the first recipient of the Sir Tom Finney Award while Eddie Howe is shortlisted for the Outstanding Managerial Achievement Award and AFC Bournemouth could win the Best Digital Content Award.