Aston Villa eager to bounce back as Bournemouth visits.
Aston Villa vs. Bournemouth begins at 14:00 [GMT] on Sunday, November 9, at Villa Park.
Eleventh-placed Aston Villa [WWWWL] welcome Bournemouth to Villa Park looking to extend their strong home form and continue their impressive recent record against the Cherries. Unai Emery’s side are unbeaten in their last five Premier League meetings with Bournemouth (W3 D2), a significant turnaround after losing four in a row to the South Coast club earlier in the rivalry. Villa, who are coming off the back of a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. in the Europa League, have lost just one of their last 23 home league matches (W14 D8) in the Premier League – a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace back in August. Over the past two seasons, only Liverpool (58), Manchester City (54), and Arsenal (52) have earned more home points than Villa’s 50, underlining their consistency in front of their fans. Under Unai Emery, Villa’s dominance at Villa Park has become their defining strength. When they score first at home in the league, they go on to win 83% of the time (29 of 35 games), a record bettered only by Graham Taylor’s Villa side in the early Premier League era. Midfielder Ross Barkley could be a key figure again – he has been directly involved in seven goals against Bournemouth in his career (4 goals, 3 assists), including scoring in this fixture last season. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Ollie Watkins in attack is expected against the Cherries.
Bournemouth [DWDWL], in 5th place, have struggled to find success at Villa Park in recent years. After winning their first two top-flight visits, they are now winless in three trips (D1 L2) and face a Villa side that has turned their home ground into one of the Premier League’s most difficult venues. Bournemouth come into the game after a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, but Andoni Iraola’s team have shown resilience, avoiding back-to-back losses since May. The Cherries remain one of the Premier League’s more adventurous sides away from home, recording 24 shots on target in their five away fixtures so far – second only to Chelsea (29). Their average of 4.8 shots on target per game away is the second-best in their Premier League history, behind last season’s 5.2. For Bournemouth, Adrien Truffert has been a dynamic outlet at full-back, leading the league in overlapping runs (33) and ranking among the top three for off-ball attacking third movements (93). Midfielder Tyler Adams continues to impress defensively, ranking sixth in tackles (29) and third in interceptions (17) this season, while opening his scoring account against Manchester City last weekend. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Junior Kroupi in attack is expected.