A new-look AFC Bournemouth will be looking to get their inaugural Premier League campaign off to a winning start on Saturday night, when they play host to a Benteke-less Aston Villa at The Goldsands Stadium.
Villa have spent the offseason trying to make up for the loss of some of their marquee players in Ron Vlaar, Fabian Delph, Andreas Weimann and of course the prolific Christian Benteke, spending in excess of €50 million on new additions including Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair, Jose Angel Crespo and Jordan Ayew. Whether or not these additions are enough to fill the void is a question that will have to wait until Saturday to be answered.
Bournemouth, on the other hand, have suffered very little by way of departures, losing less than a handful of fringe players on free transfers. They have made do with their limited budget, picking up Lee Tomlin, Sylvain Distin, Max Gradel, Artur Boruc, Adam Federeci and Cristian Atsu (loan). The most notable of the seaside club’s arrivals is Tyrone Mings, who arrived at Bournemouth after a club record transfer fee of €11.3 million. However despite their enthusiastic spending, Bournemouth’s final bill only came to about half of what Villa spent.
Despite the contrast in spending methods, Bournemouth and Villa have had similar runs of form throughout preseason. Either side has only managed one win in their past five preseason fixtures.
We can expect to see a packed-out Goldsands Stadium (12,000) watch two sides that will still be trying find their feet and, more likely than not, will do some experimenting on the field.
Key Battle – Callum Wilson vs Micah Richards
Clinical, speedy and prolific – Callum Wilson has all the attributes to be this season’s Charlie Austin. Wilson is already a proven goal-getter for the Cherries, having racking up 20 league goals in the Championship last season.
This weekend he will come up against a centre-back pairing that has only played a handful of preseason games together in Richards and Ciaran Clark. However, former Manchester City man Richards can hold his own in the speed department, so the game may come down to whether or not Wilson can wiggle free for those prized opportunities.
Team News
Many of the Cherries’ new signings are expected to debut at the weekend including Mings and Atsu, while the familiar faces of the club’s promotion glory are expected to take their places in the lineup.
AFC Bournemouth Expected XI (4-4-1-1): Boruc (GK); Francis, Elphick, Distin, Mings; Ritchie, Surman, Gosling, Atsu; Kermorgant; Wilson.
Like their hosts, Villa are also expected to hand debuts to several new faces. Richards is expected to step in at centre-back and Ghana international Ayew will fill the shoes of the departed Benteke.
Aston Villa Expected XI (4-3-3): Guzan (GK); Hutton, Richards, Clark, Amavi; Westwood, Gueye, Veretout; Bacuna, Ayew, Sinclair.
Head-To-Head
These two teams have only met once in the near past and that was during a fourth round FA Cup fixture back in January. On that day, Villa emerged as 2-1 winners after goals from Carles Gil and Andreas Weimann. Bournemouth’s Wilson popped up for a 90th minute goal to ensure a more respectable scoreline.
Despite the disparity in club prestige at the time, it still seemed as though Eddie Howe fielded a second string side on that day.
Prediction
If a second string Bournemouth side can travel to Villa Park and still be competitive against what was a stronger Villa side on paper, then the Cherries have every chance of claiming a first up victory in the league at home.
AFC Bournemouth 2 Aston Villa 1
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