Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
Tottenham Hotspur welcome Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth to Wembley on Boxing Day, looking to build on their 6-2 Sunday thrashing of Everton. While there has been plenty of speculation recently that Spurs gaffer Mauricio Pochettino might be on his way to Manchester United one day soon, the Argentine has insisted that he wants to turn Spurs into title winners before he goes anywhere.
Bournemouth won 2-0 at home against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, a result which will surely have relieved Howe, after a run of three defeats in all competitions. In those three games, which included a Carabao Cup quarter-final loss to Chelsea, the Cherries conceded seven goals and scored none. This could be tough trip to the capital for Howe’s men, but two goals and a win over Brighton will have improved the players’ confidence levels.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth Prediction: Spurs 2-0 Bournemouth
Our prediction for this game is that Spurs will win it pretty comfortably. Bournemouth have struggled to get anything at all from games against top six sides in recent weeks, and are facing a very confident Spurs team. The game may well turn into an exercise in damage limitation for Howe’s team, despite the presence of exciting attacking talents like Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser in the team. A two-goal margin of victory looks likely to us, and we expect Spurs to be relatively untroubled by anything Bournemouth throw at them.
Our recommended tip: [two to three words describing the tip]
Our featured tip for this game comes from Grosvenor, who are offering odds of 7/1 on Spurs winning the game 2-0. This looks a good bet to us, as we strongly suspect that Spurs are going to enjoy a relatively comfortable time of it at Wembley on Wednesday. Odds of7/1 are pretty generous for this outcome. Bournemouth have been too inconsistent in recent weeks, and have really struggled to score, so it does not look likely that they will trouble Tottenham, who have been in imperious form in recent weeks.
Previous matches
These two sides have played each other six times in the Premier League, with Spurs having won five of those games, and there has been one draw. Prior to meeting in the Premier League for the first time in the 2015/16 season, the clubs’ only previous meeting was in an FA Cup tie in 1957, when the Cherries triumphed 3-1, in what would have been a real upset at the time.
Last season, in the two Premier League matches, Spurs won both. They won the first game 1-0 at Wembley in October 2017, before winning 4-1 at the Vitality Stadium in March earlier this year.
Top 3 Premier League Bookies
Players to watch: Moussa Sissoko & Ryan Fraser
Spurs’ French midfielder Moussa Sissoko has really established himself as one of his team’s top midfield performers this season. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believes that the player benefitted from Spurs not making any significant signings over the summer. That gave Sissoko the space to grow, and he has now developed into one of Mauricio Pochettino’s key players in 2018/19. A box-to-box midfielder, he offers threat in both attack and defence.
Scotland international winger Ryan Fraser is in the process of establishing himself as a key performer for both club and country this season. He is the top provider of assists to his team, weighing in with eight in his 18 Premier League games this season. He has provided more assists than any player in either squad for this game. He has also contributed four goals to his team’s cause in 2018/19.
