'Not free-scoring', 'Finding it hard' - Chris Sutton & Alan Shearer disagree on Bournemouth vs Leeds United predictions
The predictions are in ahead of Leeds United’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth.
Chris Sutton expects draw specialists Leeds United to take another point from a Bournemouth side affected by their midweek commitments.
Leeds head to the Vitality Stadium this afternoon having drawn five of their eight top-flight matches this season, including three of their last four. Daniel Farke’s side have struggled to find their attacking flow but boast the league’s second strongest defence behind Arsenal.
Hosts Bournemouth are in red-hot form, winning their last five matches across all competitions without conceding. Their most recent victory was a 3-0 Carabao Cup triumph over Aston Villa on Wednesday but Sutton expects Marco Rose’s side to still be feeling the effects of that a little.
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In his predictions column for BBC Sport, the former Blackburn Rovers striker wrote: “Bournemouth are flying at the moment, with successive wins over Aston Villa, Manchester United and AC Milan. Leeds are extremely well structured, however, even if they are not free-scoring this season.
“I am sure Daniel Farke would like his team to score more goals, but they don't give away a lot either. Bournemouth are on a great run but I wonder how much the past week has taken out of them, and that makes me think Leeds could nick a point. Sutton's prediction: 1-1.”
Bournemouth were able to rotate for that midweek win over Villa, with the likes of Marcus Tavernier, Rayan and Justin Kluivert playing 45 minutes each while striker Evanilson was given the night off entirely. Sutton’s former strike partner Alan Shearer expects the midweek action to have less of an impact, predicting defeat on the road for Leeds.
“I guess Rose changed it around massively on Wednesday,” Shearer told Betfair. “I think there were seven or eight changes, maybe more for Bournemouth. So, for them to still go out and get the result against Villa obviously means that they're all buying into his ideas after a bit of a tough start.
“They seem to be cooking now; Bournemouth and Leeds are finding it hard to get wins now. So, I'm going to go for a home win to Bournemouth. I'm going with the form team. Prediction - Bournemouth win.”