Bournemouth v West Ham

Bournemouth vs West Ham Preview

Bournemouth will begin their Premier League campaign with a home fixture against West Ham as The Cherries gear themselves up for what is expected to be another long, tough battle against relegation in this season's English top flight.

Bournemouth finished last season in 15th place in the Premier League standings and five points above the relegation zone largely thanks to what proved to be a decisive sequence of results during April which saw the south coast club pick up a vital five wins out of seven matches played during that period under former manager, Gary O'Neil.

Victories against Fulham, Leicester City, Tottenham, Southampton and Leeds United, the latter being a 4-1 thrashing of the Yorkshire club, helped secure Bournemouth's top flight status for another season with the wins against the bottom three clubs proving to be absolutely vital in The Cherries' survival.

Despite steering Bournemouth to safety, Gary O'Neil was rewarded by losing his job and he has been replaced by Spanish coach, Andoni Iraola, for this new campaign.

West Ham also experienced something of a tough campaign last season as The Hammers failed to build upon their impressive seventh-place finish at the end of the 2021-22 season last term, finishing in the lower half of the Premier League table in a disappointing 14th place.

Whether or not West Ham's participation in last season's Europa Conference League affected the London club, time will only tell, but nevertheless, David Moyes' side did manage to capture West Ham's first major trophy in 43 years by winning the final of last season's competition with a 2-1 win against Italian club, Fiorentina.

This trophy may afford Moyes some extra breathing space with West Ham this season but the Scot will be demanding better from a side that managed to capture just two wins from their final seven matches of the previous campaign, whilst also being handed five defeats in the process.

West Ham also struggled on the road last term as The Hammers gained just three away wins all season but one of these wins came in the form of a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, so the visitors may well fancy their chances of picking up all three points down on the south coast again this Saturday.

Bournemouth v West Ham Verdict

Bournemouth run the risk of losing what little momentum they had under O'Neil when they begin this new campaign with yet another manager and this may not do them any favours in the short term as they adjust to a new style of playing.

West Ham will sense an early opportunity therefore to grab all three points here, especially as The Hammers have won three of the last four meetings with The Cherries.

Therefore, our main bet will be West Ham win @ 2.55

Other side bets worth considering:

West Ham win & Both Teams To Score Yes @ 4.75

Correct score: West Ham 3-1 @ 21.00