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Bournemouth Can Shock The Top EPL Sides

The standard at the bottom of the Premier League towards the end of last season was perhaps the lowest quality seen for quite some time, as several clubs fought for survival, and Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich should all be hopeful of making an impact as they grace the top flight in 2015.

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[Bournemouth makes the list of top 10 games for to look out for, see them here.]

The newly promoted trio have replaced Hull City, Burnley and QPR in England’s top division and there is no reason to think that survival for each is not a very realistic target.

Bookmakers disagree somewhat, all three are quoted between just 8/11 and 5/4 for relegation, but time and again Championship sides have shocked more celebrated opponents during their first season tackling the elite and Bournemouth, perhaps, are best equipped to do so in the coming campaign.

The south coast club, under the guidance of manager Eddie Howe, possess a lot of similarities to Southampton, so successful since promotion back to the big time in 2012, and not just geographical ones.

The Cherries swept to the second tier title last term playing some wonderful football and a very settled side coped remarkably well with the demands of a 46-game season.

While Howe will be grateful for eight less fixtures this time around, the step up in class is obvious and the talented Englishman will know he is unlikely to be as fortunate regarding injuries 12 months on.  Nine of his squad featured in at last 40 matches for the champions en route to lifting the trophy and reinforcements are certainly required.

Although unlikely to sanction the signing of too many large cheques, Howe does have fairly significant financial backing should he require it and proved that somewhat with the £8million capture of the highly promising Ipswich left-back, Tyrone Mings.

More new faces will likely follow but securing Christian Atsu on loan from Chelsea could well prove one of Howe’s best acquisitions. The Ghanaian has already shown for his country on the biggest stage just exactly what he is capable of, named Player of the Tournament at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, and brings much needed pace to the playing squad.

Bournemouth can be backed at 8/11 to stay in the Premier League for more than just one season and they should be targeting the likes of Sunderland, West Brom and Newcastle – all of whom look vulnerable this time around. The will certainly be looking for the type of heroics they got from Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici, who saved the penalty that clinched their rise to the EPL (something that certainly delighted our friends over at Casinoshortlist.org, an Aussie gaming site which features all the goings on of Aussies playing “soccer”).

Australian
I’m an Australian so watch out!

In Howe, one has to think Bournemouth have a manager that will relish taking on the likes of Jose Mourinho, Louis Van Gaal and Arsene Wenger and trips to Dean Court, and it’s 11,700 capacity, will be no picnic for established, visiting stars.

In fact, should Howe manage to sign a striker of proven Premier League quality to compliment the exciting Callum Wilson, Dimitar Berbatov has been mooted following the Bulgarian’s release by Monco, then the 9/1 about Bournemouth finishing in the top half would likely prove popular as the big kick-off approaches.

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