Unai Emery’s side were comfortable winners at Villa Park back in November, but they will arrive at Dean Court off the back of a defeat – although their Champions League hopes remain firmly intact.
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Bournemouth will be looking to break into the top ten of the league, while Villa will hope to keep the pressure on the top two in the table with a win.
Bournemouth's Evanilson reacts during the Premier League match at Villa Park, Birmingham. (Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)
The Daily Echo previews Saturday’s game.
Team news
Andoni Iraola will likely have much the same squad to choose from as he did against Wolves last weekend, although he could be boosted by the return of David Brooks.
The boss will be without Julio Soler, Tyler Adams, Ben Gannon-Doak, Marcus Tavernier and Justin Kluivert through injury.
Aston Villa's Emi Buendia scores their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League (Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)
New arrivals Rayan and Alex Toth will have had an extra week to settle into the side, though, so those two will be eyeing up their first start in a Cherries shirt.
Emery, meanwhile, will be without Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Alysson and Andres Garcia, while Ollie Watkins is a doubt.
Head-to-head
The teams have met 16 times and it is the visitors to Dorset this weekend who have the better record, particularly in the most recent meetings between the two sides.
In the three games since the start of last season, Villa have won two, with the third being a draw, at Villa Park last term.
Kepa after Villa goal. (Image: Richard Crease)
But earlier this campaign, the Villans ran out comfortable 4-0 victors after a disappointing Bournemouth performance.
Trailing 2-0 at the break after a poor first half, thanks to strikes from Emiliano Buendia and Amadou Onana, the Cherries improved after the break.
But, after Antoine Semenyo saw a penalty saved by Emi Martinez to cut the deficit in half, Villa regained control and scored twice from corners to round out a comprehensive victory.
Form
The Cherries are back at home after their first away win since August, as they beat Wolves 2-0 last weekend.
That continued what has been a good run in all competitions, with no defeats in five games, although they went on to be knocked out of the FA Cup by Newcastle on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
In the league, they have tasted defeat just once in the past six, losing to league leaders Arsenal, and they have won three and drawn one of their past four, with wins over Spurs, Liverpool and Wolves.
Villa, meanwhile, have seven points from their past six games and they were beaten by Brentford 1-0 last time out.
That followed a win over Newcastle, a defeat to Everton, a draw with Palace and a win over Nottingham Forest, after they ended 2025 with a 4-1 loss to Arsenal.
AFC Bournemouth host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, February 7, kick off at 3pm.