Football Prediction #12 (6/08/2021) - English Championship: AFC Bournemouth v WBA
Today is the first Championship game as it's a big one between...
It's a big opening game between Bournemouth who are starting their second season in Championship after being beaten semi-finalists in last season's play-offs and WBA who were relegated after finishing 19th in the Premier League last year.
Both teams now have new managers, so let's take a look at Bournemouth first.
Scott Parker quit Fulham to take the reins at Bournemouth and had has brought in Leeds defender Leif Davis on loan but apart from him, there have been more outs than ins as Parker organises his team for the new season.
Now, it's not their first game as the League Cup kicked off last week and they put in a superb and polished performance against MK Dons, hammering them 5-0 in a dominant performance which must have pleased Parker and the fans as they are considered one of the favourites for promotion this year.
WBA were poor last season, shipping more goals than a Sunday League side. They appointed Valerien Ismael who quit Barnsley and made a very shrewd move in taking club captain Alex Mowatt with him. Alex is Leeds having come up through the academy and we were sad to see him leave us a few years ago. They will be buoyed by Phillips, Bartley and Furlong extending their contracts as well as adding a little more steel in defence with the addition of Clarke from Brighton.
The elephant in the room is the wantaway star man Pereira who has made no secret of his wish to leave the club. I hope they drop him.
Because they were relegated, they will enter the league cup in the next round so with Bournemouth being a little sharper and match fit, I can see them taking all three points by a close margin.