Bournemouth face a crucial six pointer in their battle to avoid relegation as Aston Villa visit the Vitaly Stadium.
A win will lift Bournemouth out of the relegation zone whilst Villa will move up to 15th if they take victory.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesBournemouth could have Jefferson Lerma available after the Colombian sat out Monday’s FA Cup defeat by Arsenal with a groin injury.
Sergio Rico also missed the game with a couple of unspecified injuries whilst Jack Stacey, Joshua King (both hamstring) and Phillip Billing (back) are doubts.
Arnaut Danjuma (foot), Lloyd Kelly (thigh), Chris Mepham, Charlie Daniels (both knee) and David Brooks (ankle) are all ruled out.
Aston Villa have no fresh injury concerns after Keinan Davis returned from a thigh injury in their midweek Carabao Cup win over Leicester.
Jed Steer (Achilles), Tom Heaton, Wesley (both knee) and John McGinn (ankle) all remain ruled out.
Form
Bournemouth ended a six match winless league run with victory over Brighton last time out, although they’ve taken four points from their last three home games.
Aston Villa are unbeaten in three of their last five league games (W2, D1, L2), but have kept just two clean sheets in their last 14 outings in all competitions.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth have won two of three previous Premier League meetings against Aston Villa, with both wins coming by 2-1 results at Villa Park (W2, L1).
- Villa have won two of their three previous trips to Bournemouth despite keeping just one clean sheet across those three visits (W2, L1).
- Bournemouth have conceded in each of their last seven matches against Villa, having won their first ever meeting by a 3-0 result in October 1971.
- Jefferson Lerma has collected a league high nine yellow cards in 23 league appearances for Bournemouth this season.
- No Premier League player has committed more fouls this season than Villa’s Wesley, who has made 43 fouls in 21 league appearances this season.
Prediction
This is crucial for Bournemouth because defeat here and other results elsewhere could well see them slightly cut adrift of safety, whereas Villa need to build some momentum across February to take to Wembley in the Carabao Cup final at start of March.
I therefore am expecting a good game between these two because Bournemouth were aggressive when attacking in their win over Brighton, which they are going to need to repeat here against a stubborn Villa defence.
Villa however seem to have developed a habit of late goals in recent games so Bournemouth realistically need to be aggressive early on and get two goals, otherwise I can see a draw here.
Prediction: Bournemouth 2-1 Aston Villa
Result: Bournemouth 2-1 Aston Villa