Leeds United vs AFC Bournemouth, Premier League 2022-2023, Today Match Prediction

Leeds United vs AFC Bournemouth Match Prediction & Analysis

This is the first-ever meeting between these two teams and, although they have met many times in lower leagues and cup competitions, it’ll be an interesting test of their top-division credentials.

Leeds earned a rather surprising victory last weekend, beating Liverpool in a thrilling encounter that saw their opponents lose at home for the first time in about 18 months.

It showed the kind of spirit and togetherness that manager Jesse Marsch has been speaking about over the past couple of weeks and perhaps that victory can kickstart a revival up the league table.

Bournemouth are in the middle of the same sort of slump that Leeds have just dragged themselves out of. 

Three defeats in a row have seen the south coast team slide rapidly down the table and are now just two points clear of the bottom three.

Gary O’Neil is still the caretaker manager at Bournemouth, with the club yet to make a permanent appointment, with the situation regarding its ownership ongoing. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Leeds United Preview

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Big win over Liverpool will boost confidence

     Have won 10 of the 13 meetings with Bournemouth

Reasons to be fearful:

     Tottenham and City both coming up in their next three games

     Can they only motivate themselves for the big games?

Despite the victory over Liverpool, Leeds’ fans will be worried that their team can only motivate themselves for the very biggest of games, when the clubs near the top end of the table come to call.

Before last weekend, their previous win came against Chelsea, another huge win for the club, back in mid-August. Eight Premier League games followed without victory before the Liverpool clash most recently.

Now, they face a team right next to them in the table. Bournemouth won’t allow them the same amount of time and space that Liverpool did, so how will they cope with a new challenge?

A win here could lift them into midtable territory, although a defeat would leave them back at square one.

Star Man – Rodrigo Moreno

The Spaniard has recovered from injury to give his club a timely boost in the last couple of weeks. His early goal against Liverpool set the tempo for the rest of the team.

AFC Bournemouth Preview

Reasons to be cheerful

     Managed to push Tottenham hard last weekend

     Have recovered from poor losing streaks before 

Reasons to be fearful

     Poor record against Leeds

     Ownership situation is not helping matters

Bournemouth have gradually started to sink into the same sort of position they were in when they fired Scott Parker.

There were additional circumstances at play there, but there is no question that Bournemouth have lost their way slightly.

The club’s ownership situation continues to rumble on, waiting for the Premier League to approve the purchase of Bournemouth by an American businessman. 

During that time, the club decided not to appoint a permanent manager. This has worked fine until recently, with Gary O’Neil providing a steadying hand of late, although results have started to turn sour once more.

Can they turn things around here? They’ve scored fewer goals than Leeds while conceding more at the same time.

Star Man – Dominic Solanke

The striker has been directly involved in five goals in nine Premier League games. There were concerns that he couldn’t cut it in this league, but he’s proving his doubters wrong.