Aston Villa look to extend their winning run to five as they make the trip to the south-coast to face Andoni Iraola’s AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Here’s the latest heading into tomorrow’s fixture at the Vitality Stadium…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s side find themselves in excellent form of late and look to further their winning run this Sunday as they take on a resurged Bournemouth side managed by fellow Basque head coach Andoni Iraola.
Last weekend, the West-Midlands outfit came from behind to defeat Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur by two goals to one. Giovani Lo Celso opened the scoring in North-London, before Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins converted to claim a big three points on the road. This result pushed Emery’s side into the top four of the division as they leapfrogged the Lilywhites into a UEFA Champions League position.
On Thursday, Villa defeated Legia Warszawa in the UEFA Europa Conference League, with Moussa Diaby and Àlex Moreno, who completed his comeback from injury, both on the score-sheet. The result was tainted by scenes outside of Villa Park however, as the travelling Warsaw fans caused uproar by attacking local police officers and trashing the nearby area, amid being denied entry into the ground.
The claret and blue side will look to build from their recent run of form, prior to a tough seven day period that sees the side face up against two of the toughest teams in Europe in the form of Manchester City and Arsenal.
First, though, they must play a Bournemouth side who look to have finally found their feet this season; The Cherries struggled at the beginning of the campaign but now find themselves on the back of two successive wins.
Last weekend saw the south-coast side see off Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in what was a dominant display from Iraola’s men. Marcus Tavernier, who was nominated for the November Premier League player of the month award, grabbed the game’s opener inside 12 minutes, before former Valencia and Nice winger Justin Kluivert doubled the away side’s lead in half-time stoppage-time.
Tavernier grabbed his brace just after the break and Scottish striker Ollie McBurnie would grab a late consolation goal in the closing stages to round off what was a comfortable victory on the road for The Cherries.
Unai Emery believes this weekend’s fixture will be a challenging one and also commented on his managerial counterpart, Iraola, and his unique style of play. He said: “Their reaction was fantastic after a very bad start. When I am analysing Bournemouth, I am watching the idea and style Iraola is setting, more or less like he did in Rayo Vallecano before.
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins is considered ‘a doubt’ for tomorrow’s game against The Cherries after picking up a knock during the week.
The number eleven has twelve goals in all competitions this season and has featured in each match of the 2023/24 season, bar Thursday’s clash with Legia, and could miss out this weekend ahead.
Speaking in Friday’s press conference on the condition of the 27-year-old, Unai Emery said: “He’s going to be a doubt for Sunday.
Emery also provided an update on those returning from recent injury problems, he said: “It’s very important when players are coming back after long injuries. Some players make an impact with good performances, like Álex Moreno was doing yesterday and Robin Olsen as well after not playing recently.
Elsewhere, midfielder Boubacar Kamara is suspended for the upcoming fixture, having accumulated too many yellow cards (5) before the half-way point in the season. Goalkeeper Emi Martínez is expected to be okay, despite being dropped on Thursday night.
Tyrone Mings (knee) and Emi Buendía (knee) both remain out, while Bertrand Traoré is expected to miss this one with a knock.
AFC BOURNEMOUTH
Andoni Iraola will be without captain Lloyd Kelly for ‘some weeks‘ after the defender sustained a ‘muscular injury’ in the recent victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. The 25-year-old was replaced at half-time in the fixture and will miss a busy festive schedule in red and black, as a result.
Speaking on the condition of the number five, Iraola said: “It’s really bad news for Lloyd Kelly… he has a muscle injury that will keep him out for some weeks.”
Summer signing Alex Scott is also side-lined, having picked up a knee injury during the side’s 6-1 defeat away at champions Manchester City last month. Speaking on Scott’s setback, Iraola said: “He has an MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprain. It is a grade two injury and it is tough.
“It is on the other knee than the one he had an injury with earlier in the season.”
Summer signing duo Tyler Adams, who joined from the relegated Leeds United, and Max Aarons, who made the switch from Carrow Road, are unavailable with respective hamstring constraints, while ‘keeper Darren Randolph (illness), Emiliano Marcondes (ankle) and Ryan Fredericks (calf) are all absent through injury.
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A BIT ON BOURNEMOUTH…
AFC Bournemouth appointed head coach Andoni Iraola in June, hours after The Cherries had sacked the now Wolves boss Gary O’Neil. The 41-year-old arrived on the back of a three year spell with laLiga outfit Rayo Vallecano and landed on the south-coast with great potential, given his unique style of play that brought him plenty of success in Spain.
It was a largely disappointing start to the Premier League season, however. The 2021/22 EFL Championship runners-up claimed just three points from their opening nine games, picking up draws against West Ham, Brentford and Chelsea; form that left them in the bottom three.
Since that winless run, The Cherries have quadrupled their points tally, winning three of the last four games in the league. A big three points at home to Burnley at the end of October was followed up by a heavy defeat against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and crucial triumphs over Newcastle United and Sheffield United. These results saw Bournemouth climb to 16th in the league and significantly nine points clear of The Blades in 18th.
In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth were knocked out in the quarter-finals, losing at home to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, after previous round victories over Stoke City and Swansea City.
The Cherries enter Sunday’s game in good spirits and with star men Dominic Solanke and Marcus Tavernier in fine. Iraola is looking to push on and build-up from the recent performances but knows Villa face a big threat and is under no illusion that this weekend’s test will be an easy feat.
On his team and Sunday’s game, he said: “I think overall we are happy with the performances we had in the last games but we have to continue pushing because we now have Aston Villa.
In Friday’s press conference, the former Athletic Bilbao defender also spoke highly of his weekend managerial counterpart, Unai Emery, describing the four-time UEFA Europa League winners as ‘one of the best’.
On his compatriot, Iraola said: “For me, Unai is one of the best coaches. He’s been very successful in various teams, different experiences, different environments, different countries and this is why he’s having the results at Villa.
Can Unai Emery’s Aston Villa claim a big three points on the road and maintain their position in the top four of the Premier League or will Andoni Iraola’s men find victory on home soil and steer clearer of the drop zone?
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MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture on the south-coast…
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