Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

Aston Villa and Bournemouth are set to trade tackles at Villa Park in an exciting Premier League showdown.

Aston Villa’s two-game winning streak in the Premier League ended last weekend as they spurned an early lead in a 1-1 away draw at West Ham United. Back to Villa Park, where they’ve experienced mixed fortunes in their last four league outings (W2, L2), the ‘Lions’ are looking to arrest a dreadful four-match losing H2H run against Bournemouth in the Premier League. Worryingly for manager Unai Emery, his charges have picked up just two wins in their last ten top-flight encounters against promoted sides (D3, L5) and are winless in all three such match-ups this season (D1, L2). However, there’s no reason for panic in the Villa camp, considering they’ve scored in all 13 league fixtures under Emery, marking the second-best scoring start for a new manager in Premier League history.

In the meantime, visiting Bournemouth stunned Liverpool 1-0 last weekend, halting an underwhelming run of back-to-back league defeats, but they still commence this round in the drop zone. Level on points with 16th-placed Leicester City, the ‘Cherries’ could move to safety at the end of this round, though it would likely require them to defy a woeful record of seven defeats in their last eight Premier League away matches (W1). Conceding first would probably throw such hopes under the bus, with Gary O’Neil’s men suffering eight losses on nine league travels after falling behind this season (W1). But before jumping the gun, it’s worth noting that Bournemouth have netted precisely twice in their last four Premier League meetings with Villa.