Friday 9 August 2013

Taking on Gianfranco Zola's Watford team

Taking on Gianfranco Zola's Watford team at Vicarage Road is going to be about as hard as it gets this season for AFCB in the league.They have not quite hit top form yet, which may be a blessing for the Cherries but there is a lot of quality in their team even if most of it has only been recently assembled.

Chief danger man will be Troy Deeney who has already opened his goal account this season with one on the opening day against Birmingham to secure the Hornets all three points. In that match he was partnered by Forestiere but don't be surprised if Diego Fabbrini, the young Italian, is used against the Cherries.

Angela and Faraoni were the only two players to start in the Birmingham and Bristol Rovers game in mid-week for Watford. AFCB will have to get the better of Mr Almunia in goal and the defensive brick wall of Pudil, Angella and Cassetti. In midfield they have Almen Abdi and Christan Battocchio, who returned to the club in the summer. A look out for Lewis McGugan who signed for Watford this summer from Nottingham Forest.

With the rich Pozzo family backing Watford should be up and around the promotion places agin this season. The difficulty for Zola is how quickly can he mould them into a winning machine. At the moment things are going well, but a victory for the Cherries would be the first question mark Zola would have encountered since they were knocked out of the play-off final by Crystal Palace in May.

I fancy Bournemouth to play Grabban and Pitman upfront even though they played five across the midfield in mid-week. I would be surprised if we played three at the back against such a powerful team, but there is good competition in the spine of the team with MacDonald, Arter, O'Kane, Elphick, Cook and ward all looking for starting places. I expect Fraser to play again and probably Pugh, so Coulibaly could be left on the bench if he is still feeling his heel injury. Wes Thomas too is likely to make way for Pitman's return.

While a point at Vicarage Road would be a fantastic result there is a chance that we could nick it if the team keeps playing to its potential. A victory would really give AFCB a lot of confidence going into the Wigan game and would set us up nicely for the season. A defeat may well cause Howe to speed up his enquiries into sourcing another striker. Enjoy the game.

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