Friday 15 September, 20.00
Live on Sky Sports Main Event
Bournemouth's terrible start
The Cherries were run ragged at the Emirates last weekend. Three-nil could easily have been four, five or six, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic forced into several sprawling saves against an Arsenal back to their rampant best.
That was Bournemouth's fourth consecutive loss to kick off the Premier League season and manager Eddie Howe admitted afterwards that his side have so far been a long way short of fulfilling the potential in their squad.
Indeed, with the acquisitions of Begovic, Nathan Ake and Jermain Defoe in the summer many felt that a side which finished ninth last season was only set to push on. Yet there is a sense their young manager has not quite settled on his favoured starting XI this season, nor a formation - having switched between a back four and a back three.
He will have to quickly turn things around against a newly-promoted side full of confidence after getting themselves off the mark last weekend.
Seagulls soaring after first win
You wait 34 years for a top flight goal - and then three come along at once. Brighton's start to Premier League life had been a difficult one, with three goalless games puncturing what had been an optimistic atmosphere in Sussex.
But that all changed last weekend as Chris Hughton's newly-promoted side ran in three goals against an uncharacteristically sloppy West Brom. Pascal Gross was the man at the heart of it all, scoring twice and laying on another for Tomer Hemed.
The German midfielder, a summer signing from Bundesliga outfit Ingolstadt, has been the Seagulls' creative force this season, making seven chances in total and will be the man Howe's Bournemouth will be most eager to stop.
Time for Cherries to blossom
Although the Premier League table does not make for pleasant viewing for Bournemouth fans right now - they only avoid last place thanks to having scored one more goal than Crystal Palace - there are reasons for optimism.
Two of their defeats came against big six sides - Arsenal and Manchester City - while their other two were against an over-performing Watford and an otherwise in-form West Brom. In fact, of the corresponding fixtures last season Bournemouth only picked up one point anyway - a draw at home to Watford. There is no reason to panic yet.
The Cherries are also strong at home, having been beaten by only Chelsea, Manchester City and a Sam Allardyce-inspired Crystal Palace in the second half of last season. While Brighton will be glad to have got their first win on the board, they were fortunate to run into a poor West Brom. Brighton have failed to score on the road this season and will enjoy little of the ball against Howe's possession-based Bournemouth side who beat all three newly-promoted teams at the Vitality last season.
Expect the Cherries to outplay Brighton and record their first win of the season at odds of 2.26.
Low-scoring looks more likely
Bournemouth fans certainly get their money's worth when it comes to attacking football. The Vitality witnessed 64 goals last season at a rate of 3.36 per game (2.94 home and away average). That figure has dipped a bit this season (2.25 overall so far) but with Defoe joining a frontline that already boasts the goals of Josh King, it is surely only a matter of time before it rises again.
Brighton's games in the Championship last season featured 114 goals at just under 2.5 per game but they had looked goal shy in the top-flight until last weekend. Was that result a sign of things to come or merely a buck to the trend?
The markets seem to think it was a one-off, favouring a low-scoring contest on Friday, with Under 2.5 Goals trading at 1.80 and Over 2.5 Goals at 2.20.
Ref watch
Craig Pawson takes charge of the match. The Yorkshireman has already handed out 20 yellow cards and two reds in his three matches so far this season with the latter two reducing champions Chelsea to nine men in their opening day defeat to Burnley.
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Back Bournemouth to win @ 2.26
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