Written by BillyTheKid
AFCB Out To Make It Three Home Wins In A Row
After beating Wolves, it was the Cherries’ second away win of the season; the previous game was the fourth of the season against Spurs in August last year. On Saturday at 3 pm, the Cherries are back home at Dean Court. Our visitors are third-placed Aston Villa. AFCB will be out to make it three wins in a row at home.
AFC Bournemouth v Aston Villa
AFCB Win
AFCB Win
Vote
Draw
Draw
Vote
Villa Win
Villa Win
Vote
Going into the game with Aston Villa at home, AFCB are on a four-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. It’s our second-best unbeaten run this season. Looking back to last season, it’s the same, only last time it was five games unbeaten. When Villa beat us, there were only two more games until the end of the season.
After 24 games last season, AFCB were in 7th place with 40 points. Aston Villa were 8th with 37 points. At the end of the season, AFCB were in 9th place with 56 points, and Aston Villa were in 6th place with 66 points. This season, after 24 games, AFCB are 12th with 33 points and Villa are 3rd with 46 points.
Emery’s side is in 2nd place in the away table, having won 6, drawn 3 and lost 3. Since our away game against Villa, they have beaten Leeds United 1-2, Brighton 3-4, West Ham 2-3, Chelsea 1-2 and Newcastle United 0-2. They have drawn 0-0 with Crystal Palace and lost 4-1 against leaders Arsenal.
At home since our away game, they have beaten Wolves 1-0, Arsenal and Manchester United 2-1 and Nottingham Forest 3-1. Lost 0-1 against Everton and in their most recent game 0-1 against Brentford. Aston Villa are in 8th place in the home table, winning 8, drawing 1, losing 3. AFCB are 10th, won 6, drawn 4, lost 2.
The last time our two sides met at Dean Court was in May 2025. There was only one goal in the game, and it was scored by Ollie Watkins from an assist from Morgan Rogers.
In our games at home against Aston Villa, AFCB have W 3, D 1, L 3.
In all competitions, AFCB have W 5, D 3, L 8.
AFCB Team News
No news on players returning from injury for this game. If Alex Jimenez starts on Saturday, he will become an AFCB permanent player, so basically a formality now.
AFCB Player To Watch
Our two Brazilians. Evanilson has scored in his last three home games. Rayan will be the first glimpse for the majority of our home fans.
Aston Villa Team News
Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Andres Garcia, Boubacar Kamara and Allyson have all been out injured.
Aston Villa Player To Watch
Ollie Watkins is a slight doubt, but if he plays, in his last two games at Dean Court, scored in both. Leading scorer with 8 goals, has scored 5 goals and 1 assist in his last seven league games. Otherwise, Morgan Rogers is the second leading scorer with 7 goals and the top with 5 assists.
The Referee
Anthony Taylor is the man in charge of this game. He was the referee for two of our away games. The first game of the season is at Liverpool and at Manchester City.
Matt Stevenson added…
I’ve looked at the last 4 league games for A Villa. They had two home games (Everton and Brentford) and two away games (C Palace and Newcastle). A Villa have gained 4 points, which seems a poor return based on xG. The xG value for goals scored is 6.47, compared with 2 actual goals, which shows wastefulness in front of goal; A Villa have conceded 2 goals with xGc estimating 4.57 goals, which shows the opposition have also been wasteful.
Goals Xg.jpg
A Villa have had 2 different goal scorers (Buendia and Watkins), and two players have 1 assist (Digne and Rogers).
The average positions of the starting line-ups are below. The outlier is Brentford at home, who had a man sent off early on, allowing A Villa to push forward. Aside from this, these are standard line-ups.
Av Pos.jpg
The following plot compares summary stats of A Villa and AFCB over the last 4 games. Attacking statistics are mixed. A Villa have had more attempts, but fewer big chances and the xGs are comparable. Defensively, it is again mixed – AFCB have conceded more chances, but fewer big chances and the xGCs are comparable. In terms of real goals, A Villa have been wasteful and Bournemouth efficient. For goals conceded, A Villa has been efficient at keeping goals out, whilst, for the first time in a while, our goals conceded are similar to actual goals conceded.
Comparison.png
A Villa have had much more possession than AFCB and also have a higher pass completion percentage. The proportion of chances from set pieces is similar, but there is a big difference in the higher proportion of chances conceded from set pieces, with A Villa being very good at not conceding from set pieces.
Percentages.png
Your say…
kirsikka said…
I wouldn’t be shocked if Rayan started. He’s then a week and a half into training, so he should be starting to get an idea of things. Early days for him still, but I think we need fresh energy out wide.
Jiminez looked done in the last match, so give him a rest by dropping him to the bench, and then he’s available to bring on when needed, in whichever role.
It also means he’s fresher for our away trip, giving us different options on how to approach it.
We should also, hopefully, have Brooks back for Villa, which increases our sub options. I’d be surprised if he went straight back in, but I guess it’s possible if he’s looking sharp in training. – To join the conversation, please click here.
Photo of DJ
DJ
I have been a writer and website administrator on the largest AFC Bournemouth fan website for almost 25 years. Previously on a now defunct fan network and since 2005 on vitalfootball.co.uk We have been nominated for various fan website awards down the years, however we have always been the bridesmaid…