English Premier
2026-02-07 - Bournemouth vs Aston Villa
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 7th February 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Bournemouth
A slump in form had seen Bournemouth slip down the Premier League standings, but Andoni Iraola may not have been panicked about being dragged into an unexpected relegation battle. The faith he would have had in the squad has been rewarded with a couple of very important wins over the last couple of weeks and Bournemouth may once again be thinking about challenging for European spots at the end of the campaign.
They are back into mid-table in the Premier League standings with Bournemouth 12th placed and now 6 points behind Liverpool in the top six. A strong end to the season at the Vitality Stadium would improve Bournemouth's chances of earning a spot in Europe for the next campaign and The Cherries have a 6-4-2 record here.
Bournemouth were beaten 2-3 at home by Arsenal last month, but are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions in normal time with the sole setback being a Penalty Shoot Out defeat in the FA Cup Third Round. The win at Molineux means Bournemouth have won the last couple of Premier League games to move away from the bottom three. Bournemouth have won consecutive home Premier League games by the same 3-2 scoreline against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool thanks to injury time winners.
David Brooks is hoping to be available this weekend, but Bournemouth will be without the likes of Marcus Tavernier, Ben Gannon-Doak and Tyler Adams who are all pushing to return later this month.
Aston Villa
Unai Emery was very unhappy with the performance in the 0-1 home defeat to Everton last month, but he was only critical of the final bit of composure in the same scoreline defeat to Brentford last Sunday. His Aston Villa team created a lot of quality chances, but missed Ollie Watkins, and ultimately the defeat has just opened the door to a number of rivals chasing them in the Premier League table.
A strong Autumn through to early Winter run helped Aston Villa up into the top three of the Premier League table, but they have suffered some recent setbacks. The Villans are still 3rd in the standings, but they are now just 7 points clear of 6th placed Liverpool as they continue the chase for a return to the Champions League. A 6-3-3 away record will give Aston Villa confidence and only Arsenal have secured more away points to this stage of the campaign.
Aston Villa followed the 0-1 defeat to Everton to win 3 games in a row in all competitions before that run was ended in the 0-1 defeat to Brentford last Sunday. The side have played 4 away games in all competitions in 2026 and Aston Villa have opened up with a draw at Selhurst Park before winning 3 away games in succession.
The manager is without Youri Tielemens, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara to leave numbers short in the middle of the park. Ollie Watkins missed out last Sunday and it remains uncertain as to his availability.
Head to Head
Aston Villa crushed Bournemouth 4-0 at home earlier this season.
They had not won on their previous 3 visits to the Vitality Stadium, but Aston Villa did win 0-1 here last season.
Prediction
Two Spanish managers will be looking to lead their respective English Premier League teams to a vital three points this weekend.
Both Andoni Iraola and Unai Emery will want to get Bournemouth and Aston Villa on the front foot and they will certainly feel attack is the best form of defence in this fixture.
That feels particularly true for Bournemouth who have continued to offer up big chances to teams that have faced them and who have conceded at least twice in each of the last 3 home Premier League games.
Credit has to be given to the players that have still managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in consecutive games here and that despite having a number of experienced attackers out of action. Even the sale of Antoine Semenyo has not slowed the threat Bournemouth are creating in the final third and they will note some of the underlying numbers that Aston Villa have allowed defensively in recent games.
At the same time, Aston Villa will be playing with confidence despite the home setback against Brentford.
The Villans have won 3 away games in a row in all competitions and bounced back from their last defeat by winning 3 in a row overall. Unai Emery will have been pleased with much of the football he oversaw last Sunday, but he will want Aston Villa to just show a bit more composure in the final third to move into a position to earn three important points.
It would be a genuine surprise if this game is not one that finds quality chances being created by both teams.
The only factor that could work against the teams is that conditions are expected to be rainy and windy on the South Coast on Saturday afternoon- that can make it tough to play the kind of football that both teams will want, but it can also create some havoc for defenders and this looks like a game that could see at least three goals shared out.
Both fixtures last season ended with fewer than three goals scored, but Aston Villa covered this line on their own in the first meeting this season and Bournemouth missed a Penalty on the day. 4 of the last 6 between these clubs have ended with at least three goals scored on the day and this looks to be a fixture that could be sparked if there is a first half strike on the board.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Bournemouth 2-2 Aston Villa
