Bournemouth vs Cardiff: Preview and Prediction

Saturday 11th August 2018

England Premier League
Saturday 11th August 2018
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Vitality Stadium

Match Preview:

Bournemouth will feel settled in the Premier League now and they will host newcomers Cardiff City on the opening day of the season.

The Cherries will be looking to improve on last season but they have been relatively quiet in the transfer market. They signed David Brooks from Sheffield United and in recent weeks raided the Spanish league and acquired Diego Rico from Leganes and Jefferson Lerma from Levante. The later two players were specifically brought in to shore up the defence.

Pre season was mixed with a good result against Sevilla and beating Marseille 5-2 a highlight. However they also lost against the likes of Nottingham Forest so nothing can be taken for granted.

Cardiff’s priority this season will be to stay up, as Paul Merson once infamously said, any club coming up from the Championship needs to see finishing 17^th as a success. Manager Neil Warnock has let 8 players go and spent almost £30m on new recruits, all of them coming from Championship football and not the top leagues.

Unfortunetly Cardiff didn’t test themselves in pre season playing lower league teams except when they arranged a last minute game against Real Betis where they lost 2-1 at home and so have not been properly tested ahead of what should be a gruelling season for them.

Bournemouth vs Cardiff Team News:

Bournemouth: New signing Diego Rico will miss the first 3 games due to suspension carried over from La Liga. Nathan Ake suffered a knock against Marseille and is a doubt to start.

Cardiff: No major injury worries ahead of this game.

Bournemouth vs Cardiff Head to Head:

From the last 7 meetings Bournemouth have just 2 wins.

The last 3 meetings has produced 15 goals.

Bournemouth vs Cardiff Prediction:

Both teams have not been convincing in the transfer market and could struggle in the bottom half, especially if they get injuries to key players. As for this game the home side will have more experience and be more open and attacking and this should count in the end to a win. But avoid big stakes with this being the opening day of the season.

Bournemouth vs Cardiff Betting Tips:

Bournemouth to beat Cardiff at 1.91