Aston Villa look to extend their three-game unbeaten run this week as they face Gary O’Neil’s relegation-battling Bournemouth in the Premier League. Here’s the latest heading into Saturday afternoon’s game at Villa Park…
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s side look to continue their surge toward the top-half of the Premier League as they gear up to face a struggling Cherries side. Last time out for The Villans was a trip to East-London to face David Moyes’ West Ham; a team that has proven to be troublesome for the West-Midlands outfit since their promotion to the top flight.
An in-form Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in the 17th minute at the London Stadium however, after heading home an inch-perfect cross from left-back Γlex Moreno. The away side’s lead wouldn’t last long though as moments later Leon Bailey was deemed to have fouled Β£40 million man Lucas PaquetΓ‘ in the box, resulting in a West Ham penalty. SaΓ―d Benrahma would convert the spot-kick and despite chances at either end in the second-half, the score would remain one apiece.
The visitors to Villa Park this week are Bournemouth who find themselves on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over top-four chasing Liverpool. The Cherries’ top goal-scorer this season Philip Billing made it two goals in two games when firing home Dango Ouattara’s cut back in the 28th minute. This victory failed to lift the south-coast side out of the relegation zone however, with O’Neil’s side sat in 18th before game week 22 commences.
The reverse fixture at the Vitality Stadium on the opening day of the season saw last year’s EFL Championship runners-up – managed by Scott Parker – victorious, with midfielder Jefferson Lerma and Wales international Kieffer Moore on the score-sheet. In fact, Bournemouth have been on the winning side in all of the last four league meetings, with Villa’s last victory over The Cherries coming on the opening day of their relegation campaign in 2015/16 where a late Rudy Gestede header was enough to see out of a victory.
Can Unai Emery steer his side closer to the top ten with a victory this weekend or will Gary O’Neil’s side complete yet another league double over Aston Villa as they look to break clear of the relegation pack?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery could have up to four players unavailable for this weekend’s game at Villa Park, with Philippe Coutinho and Jed Steer the two guaranteed absentees for Villa. Coutinho is expected to return at the beginning of April (after the international break) after suffering a hamstring injury in training at the end of February. Steer is Villa’s sole long-term injury, with the goalkeeper sidelined through a calf problem.
Last week Diego Carlos made the match-day squad for the first time since pulling his Achilles in the first home fixture of the season against Everton. The Brazilian was out of action for seven months but is back fit and could play a big part in Aston Villa defence for the remaining 12 games.
Boubacar Kamara has an outside chance of being involved for Aston Villa this weekend. The Frenchmen was due to be out for up to a month after injuring his ankle in a challenge with Crystal Palace’s Cheick DoucourΓ©. Injury expert and journalist Ben Dinnery has revealed that the 23 year-old ‘responded really well to treatment’ and believes there is an ‘outside suggestion’ of the No.44 being involved this Saturday.
Elsewhere, Leander Dendoncker could return to the squad, depending on whether the Belgian has trained with the first team this week or not. Unai Emery revealed before the West Ham game that the Β£15 million January signing was involved in a ‘domestic accident’ and despite being at Bodymoor Heath, was not ‘involved in the normal training sessions’ last week.
BOURNEMOUTH
Gary O’Neil could also be without four players for Saturday’s visit to the West-Midlands, one of them being Ukrainian defender Illia Zarbanyi. The 20 year-old joined The Cherries in January still carrying an injury from his time with his former club Dynamo Kyiv and remains a doubt. On Zabarnyi’s condition at the start of March, O’Neil said: “Illia is back out running, doing some good work.”
Marcus Tavernier is another name who could return to the Bournemouth squad this week, having spent some time on the sidelines. The 23 year-old summer signing grabbed the winner during February’s visit to Molineux, but was taken off minutes later due to a hamstring strain. At the beginning of the month, O’Neil revealed: “we’ve got two more games before the international break; hopefully, he’ll play a part in those, but not confirmed, obviously. It’s a slight hamstring issue.”
Elsewhere, Junior Stanislas will be absent for this weekend. The 33 year-old midfielder has been missing since November with what is believed to be a muscular injury, but aims a return ‘within the next couple of weeks’.
Hamed TraorΓ¨, meanwhile, is another player being assessed in the build-up to this weekend after missing the previous two fixtures against Arsenal and Liverpool. Gary O’Neil confirmed that the Ivorian ‘felt some tightness in his leg’ a couple of weeks back and is therefore another who is considered ‘a doubt’.
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A BIT ON BOURNEMOUTH
Bournemouth began the 2022/23 with Scott Parker at the helm, but the former Fulham and West Ham midfielder lasted only four games of the term before being relieved of his position. Transfer disagreements and general poor form – including a 9-0 defeat away to Liverpool – justified the sacking and Gary O’Neil (Parker’s former senior coach) was instated as interim head coach.
O’Neil’s managerial career began well with an unbeaten run stretching as far as six games; a run that included victories over both Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. These performances earned O’Neil a nomination for the Premier League September Manager of the Month award, as well as the permanent role as head coach of AFC Bournemouth.
Since then however, The Cherries form has dropped rapidly, with the south-coast outfit winning on just three occasions in the league, drawing a further two games and losing a worrying eleven. Despite this, Bournemouth have not looked too bad. Many of their defeats are marginal or come at the cost of dropping a lead and capitulating. Aston Villa will be the first team not to underestimate O’Neil’s team, given their recent record against them.
Injuries have also scuppered Bournemouth at times this campaign, with talisman Marcus Tavernier spending some time sidelined, as well as forward Dominic Solanke and defender Lloyd Kelly.
Gary O’Neil will hope to avoid any more absences between now and the end of the season as his side readies themselves for what is bound to be a critical period. The former Portsmouth midfielder will look to earn a big three points on the road this weekend and get his side out of the bottom three.
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PREDICTED LINE-UP
Letβs take a look at Liamβs predicted line-up for this upcoming fixtureβ¦
Do you agree? Who makes your side?
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AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Authorβs UTV PODCAST archive Liam Davies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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