AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth will be bidding to register a hat-trick of Premier League wins at Villa Park when they face high-flying Aston Villa on Sunday (3pm kick-off).
The Cherries triumphed 2-1 at the Midlands venue in 2015/16, a win which secured their top-flight status, and by the same scoreline in their first away game of the 2019/20 season.
Earlier this season, the teams served up a pulsating 2-2 draw at Vitality Stadium, the visitors salvaging a share of the points thanks to a 90th-minute equaliser from Ollie Watkins.
Unai Emery’s team followed up their draw against the Cherries by beating fellow title hopefuls Manchester City and Arsenal in their next two games.
They reached the turn of the year in second place, level on 42 points with then leaders Liverpool and two ahead of City and the Gunners.
Since then, the Villans have won six of their 13 games in the Premier League, beating Sheffield United (5-0), Nottingham Forest (4-2), Fulham (2-1), Luton (3-2), Wolves (2-0) and Arsenal (2-0).
Late goals from Leon Bailey and Watkins – Villa’s scorers against the Cherries in December – saw them stun the Gunners at the Emirates on Sunday, leaving them three points clear in fourth place.
Watkins took his Premier League goal tally for the season to 19, the club’s joint-highest in a campaign along with Christian Benteke in 2012/13.
Emery has also piloted Villa to a first European semi-final since 1982, his team progressing in the Europa Conference League following their extraordinary penalty shootout triumph over Lille on Thursday.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Villa were pegged back by the French team, the tie ending 3-3 on aggregate after extra-time.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (pictured below), who had been booked earlier for time-wasting, was shown another yellow card for appearing to gesture to home fans during the shootout.
Martinez, who had already kept out Nabil Bentaleb's penalty, was allowed to carry on as his initial booking was not carried over into the shootout.
And the Argentina World Cup winner went on to keep out Benjamin Andre's spot-kick as Villa won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the last four.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Jacob Tanswell who covers the fortunes of Villa for The Athletic.
ASTON VILLA PROFILE
Founded: 1874
Ground: Villa Park
Nicknames: The Villans
Record appearances: Charlie Aitken – 660 games (1961-1975)
Record goalscorer: Billy Walker – 244 goals in 531 games
Manager: Unai Emery (appointed October 2022)
Club captain: John McGinn
League position: Fourth
Leading goalscorer: Ollie Watkins (26 in all competitions)
Last game: Lille 2 Aston Villa 1 (Europa Conference League quarter-final)
afcb.co.uk: How would you assess their current form in the Premier League?
JT: Before the trip to the Emirates, it was pretty mixed.
They were looking a little withdrawn of energy, there were a lot of injuries and a lot of unavailability.
They were 2-0 up against Brentford and drew 3-3, that was a stinger.
Everything got turned on its head when they beat Arsenal at the Emirates.
You thought they would struggle against the calibre of opposition and because they had played Lille a couple of days before.
But they went there and put in a really dominant performance, especially in the second half, and got the three points.
Tottenham, their main rivals for Champions League qualification, dropped the ball against Newcastle and, all of a sudden, it looks like Villa are favourites to finish in the top four.
There’s a bit of a spring in the step after that.
afcb.co.uk: Irrespective of how the season ends, have they already exceeded supporters’ expectations?
JT: I believe so, especially when you consider the schedule and the European commitments.
They finished seventh last season so anything better than that would have been a huge improvement.
With five games to go, the fact they are battling for a top-four place, given it’s their first season managing the European schedule, for sure they are exceeding expectations.
Reaching the semi-final of the Europa Conference League is another reason why they have exceeded expectations.
afcb.co.uk: What is Unai Emery like away from the media spotlight?
JT: He’s an obsessive!
All he does is drill tactics and watch analysis. Before the game against Arsenal, the players had three video meetings.
He’s got a little bunker at Bodymoor (Villa’s training ground) where he drills his tactics and studies the opposition.
Not much outside football gets into his immediate bubble, he’s got others to take care of that. He’s a very polite guy, but he’s very demanding and he expects that of his players as well.
afcb.co.uk: Discuss their chances of Champions League qualification?
JT: It’s going to be tough as they are still in the Europa Conference League and that takes priority as well.
They’ve got some big games coming up. If you look at the run-in, they will probably be looking at Bournemouth as a really difficult test.
Bournemouth will be fresh and have lots of energy but it’s a game Villa need to win if they are going to get in the Champions League.
After Bournemouth, they’ve got Chelsea at home, Brighton away, Liverpool at home and Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.
They are all tough fixtures against teams that are upwardly mobile and it’s going to be a difficult run-in, especially with everything else that’s going on. They haven’t been in this position for more than a decade.
afcb.co.uk: Who would get your vote for player of the season?
JT: It has to be Ollie Watkins. For his sheer number of goals but also doing it now at a key time.
His goal against Arsenal was a phenomenal finish. He’s scored in big games this season and he’s got the highest number of goal involvements of any Villa player in the Premier League era.
He’s a sure bet to be going to the Euros in the summer. He’s a phenomenal all-round striker and that’s testament to how Emery has coached him.
afcb.co.uk: Who is their unsung hero?
JT: Right now, I’d probably have to say Youri Tielemans.
I know there was a big fanfare when he signed earlier in the season but he had a quiet start. He didn’t start a Premier League game for three months.
As the season has progressed and they have needed him, he’s really stepped up.
He used to play as a holding midfielder and Emery has developed him as a number ten and he’s been really influential.
He wasn’t a key player at the start of the season and was finding himself on the bench but now he’s one of the main men.
afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?
JT: Douglas Luiz serves the second of a two-match ban after picking up his tenth booking of the season against Brentford.
Four players are out for the rest of the season, three of them with ACLs – Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendía.
Matty Cash and Clement Lenglet recently returned to the squad but aren’t 100 per cent fit either.
afcb.co.uk: How do you see this one panning out?
JT: Stylistically, I think Bournemouth can cause Villa huge problems, especially with Villa’s current energy levels and with how fresh Bournemouth will be.
It remains to be seen how much Thursday's exploits against Lille will have taken out of the players.
The Cherries have been one of the best teams in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
I think it will be a real slog and wouldn’t be surprised if it was similar to the Brentford home game which was a draw.
I think Bournemouth will probably dominate large periods and will be better than Villa but I just think Villa might have the edge in the box.
afcb.co.uk: Having correctly predicted a 2-2 draw at Vitality Stadium in December, what’s your score prediction for Sunday?
JT: If in doubt, just go for a 2-2 draw!
I’m actually going for a 2-1 win to Villa.
You can follow Jacob on X (formerly Twitter) – @J_Tanswell
Officials: Tim Robinson (referee), Harry Lennard (assistant), Derek Eaton (assistant), Darren Bond (fourth official), Michael Oliver (VAR).
