Aston Villa host Bournemouth this Saturday in Villa’s first home game of the Premier League season. Villa lost to Tottenham Hotspur after a good first half, while Bournemouth drew against Sheffield United at home. Both teams will want to get a win to get their Premier League campaign underway, and this is set to be a closely contested game featuring some very exciting players.
The two teams have only played twice in the Premier League, back in the 2015-16 season, with each side winning one match. In their very first encounter in the Premier League on August 8, 2015, Villa won at Dean Court in the first game of the season; the Cherries, though, won away from home, thanks to goals from Steve Cook and Joshua King.
MATCH PREVIEW
Team News
Aston Villa: Centre-backs Kortney Hause and James Chester, and striker Jonathan Kodija will miss the match against Bournemouth due to injury.
Bournemouth: Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has several players missing from his team for the trip to Villa. David Brooks, Lewis Cook, Junior Stanislas, Simon Francis, Dan Gosling, Arnaut Danjuma and Lloyd Kelly will all miss the game against Aston Villa.
Predicted Lineups
Aston Villa: Tom Heaton; Bjorn Engels, Tyrone Mings, Ahmed Elmohamady, Matt Targett; Conor Hourihane, John McGinn, Jack Grealish; El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Wesley
Bournemouth: Aaron Ramsdale; Nathan Aké, Chris Mepham, Steve Cook; Adam Smith, Jefferson Lerma, Philip Billing, Diego Rico; Joshua King, Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson
Key Men
Aston Villa: John McGinn, who scored Villa’s only goal last week against Spurs will be one of the most important players for the side in attack, while new signing Tyrone Mings will be key for the newly-promoted side in defence. Jack Grealish will want to break his dubious record of 19 consecutive losses in the Premier League; Dean Smith’s team do well when Grealish is in form and they will need him to fire as early as possible in the season.
Bournemouth: Ryan Fraser, who was second in the assists chart last season, will be a key player for the Cherries against Aston Villa, while central defender Nathan Ake and striker Callum Wilson are also very important for Eddie Howe’s team.
Predicted Result
Aston Villa 2-2 Bournemouth
Villa were good for 70 minutes at Spurs, and with the home support behind them, I can see them score a few goals, while Bournemouth are a good mid-table club who have the players to put on a good show.
