Bournemouth vs Sheffield United tips and predictions: Cherries to pick off beaten opponents

It wasn’t long ago you’d describe Bournemouth facing Sheffield United as a Premier League relegation six-pointer.

Andoni Iraola’s side have cooled off since their red-hot run in December but they’ve continued to accumulate points and beat Burnley 2-0 last weekend.

The Cherries saw just 25% of the ball and rode their luck at times but goals from Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo seem to have secured their safety.

It’s hard to know where Sheffield United go from here, other than the Championship, of course. The Blades have allowed 26 goals in seven games and look like a beaten team.

Chris Wilder hasn’t been able to invoke the spirit of his previous squads and this current crop of players seems to lack bite and leadership as much as quality.

Saturday’s 6-0 defeat to Arsenal in isolation is the sort of mauling that can happen against a title-chasing team, but it’s the predictably that would have hurt supporters.

 

 

We tipped Arsenal -3 Asian handicap in our betting preview and correctly predicted the 6-0 battering on the Beat Sav predictions game.

Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth represents a more winnable fixture on paper, but we’re willing to bet the mood is too low and the internal strife more than we currently know.

The Cherries haven’t won very many games at home which helps our case as they should be a very motivated side to improve that record.

We’re backing Bournemouth on the Asian handicap here. We’ll have to roll the dice on -1.5 for a worthwhile price, but we’ll also take a chance on the goalscorer market.

Who’s to say the Cherries won’t run riot? With Dominic Solanke odds on, it’s worth noting Antoine Semenyo has two in three and is the second-highest scorer this season.

 

Team news

Ryan Fredericks, Tyler Adams, James Hill, Marcos Senesi and Max Aarons are ruled out.

Ryan Christie is expected to have recovered from injury but Lloyd Kelly is likely to miss out.

Max Lowe, Rhys-Norrington Davies, Chris Basham, John Egan, Cameron Archer, Anis Ben Slimane, Rhian Brewster and Daniel Jebbison are unavailable due to injury.

Mason Holgate will serve the final game of a red card suspension.

 

Key stats

- Bournemouth won 3-1 at Bramall Lane in November
- Bournemouth have a 100% record against the promoted teams
- Sheffield United are on course to concede over 100 goals
- Sheffield United have lost 10 of 13 Premier League away games

 

Suggested bets

Bournemouth -1.5 Asian handicap

Antoine Semenyo to score

Over 1.5 first-half goals