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2026-10-28 - Bournemouth vs Aston Villa
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English League Cup Fourth Round
Wednesday 28th October 2026 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Bournemouth
The focus may have been on Michael Carrick and Manchester United after Bournemouth's big win at Old Trafford on Sunday, but Marco Rose and his players deserve their plaudits. A slow start to the season looks to be behind Bournemouth and they have bounced back from a 5-1 loss at Stamford Bridge in emphatic fashion.
Any Bournemouth fan of a certain generation would tell you how far the club have come in recent seasons and they are clearly one on a positive trajectory. Andoni Iraola guided Bournemouth to their highest ever League finish last season as he helped The Cherries earn a first European campaign, and Marco Rose has taken the club on. The next step in the development has to be winning major silverware and Bournemouth are looking to reach the Quarter Final of the League Cup for just the fourth time.
Bournemouth returned from the last international break to suffer a heavy defeat at Chelsea, but the win at Old Trafford on Sunday means they have won all 4 games played since that loss. The last 3 games at the Vitality Stadium have all ended in Bournemouth wins without conceding a goal.
Alex Scott may return before the November international break, but he is not going to be rushed and is expected to miss the next two games at the least. Alex Toth and Julian Araujo are expected to return after the international break, while manager Marco Rose may choose to rotate his first eleven for this Cup tie.
Aston Villa
A vacancy may soon be announced at Manchester United and there are plenty of fans and board members who will be admiring Unai Emery's work from afar, but Aston Villa will do all they can to keep hold of this manager. The transition of the squad looks to have settled after Aston Villa's 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Manchester City this past weekend and Emery will be looking for his team to maintain momentum.
The wait for a major trophy was ended at the conclusion of last season when Aston Villa lifted the Europa League, but the last domestic silverware was earned in the 1995/96 season when they won the League Cup. Trophies are important, but Aston Villa have not been beyond the Fourth Round in the League Cup since finishing as Runners Up to Manchester City in the 2019/20 season.
Aston Villa were able to extend the unbeaten run to 7 games in all competitions after beating Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday and the last 4 games played have now all ended in wins. The Villans are unbeaten in 5 away games in all competitions since opening the season with a thumping 4-0 defeat at Brighton, while Aston Villa have won 4 in a row on their travels.
Modou Cisse could be available, but Aston Villa are without Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Matteo Ruggeri and Amadou Onana. Like others, Unai Emery will not want to risk too many key players and will utilise the squad to freshen things up.
Head to Head
Aston Villa took four points from Bournemouth in last season's Premier League.
The game at the Vitality Stadium ended 1-1 and means Aston Villa are unbeaten in 3 trips to this part of the South Coast, although 2 of those have ended in draws.
Prediction
The League Cup is still going to be fourth on the list of priorities for those clubs competing in Europe as well as in the Premier League and we are still too many steps from the Final for that focus to change.
Both Marco Rose and Unai Emery are expected to ring the changes for this Cup tie after important wins over Manchester clubs in the Premier League. Bournemouth and Aston Villa are competing in the Europa League and Champions League respectively and so this feels like a natural game in which the managers can rotate the first eleven and give some key performers a bit of rest before another important week of action.
Unai Emery in particular has not really given the League Cup a lot of thought in his time in England- Arsenal reached the Quarter Final of the competition in Emery's one full season in charge, but Aston Villa's win over Coventry City in the Third Round last month means Unai Emery has won two and lost four of the League Cup ties he has managed for the club.
It is harder to gauge how much Marco Rose values the League Cup having not managed in England before, but foreign managers tend to see this competition as one without the same value as the FA Cup and that can sometimes be evident in team selections.
Marco Rose used a mixed starting eleven for the win over Lincoln City in the last Round and both managers have overseen positive runs of form that they would like to extend.
Home advantage may ultimately be the key factor and Bournemouth may be worth a small interest with Unai Emery's lack of real interest in the League Cup perhaps being another important influencing factor in the final outcome.
Keep an eye on team news, but Bournemouth look worthy of an interest at odds against.
The Pick :
Bournemouth 2-1 Aston Villa
