Match Preview: AFC Bournemouth v Aston Villa

by Dek Hogan

Who are we playing?
AFC Bournemouth on Saturday 16th August 8th at 3pm

Where are we playing?
They keep fucking about with the name of the place but we think it's
Vitality Stadium at Dean Court
King's Park Drive,
Bournemouth,
Dorset
BH7 7AF

Can I go?
You can if you've already managed to get yer sticky mitts on a ticket. Away end sold out. Small allocation because it's a teeny weeny ground.

Andy Lochhead scores against the Cherries in front of 48,110

Easy to get to?
Follow the M27 and A31, exiting onto the A338 towards Bournemouth. Take the exit towards Boscombe, taking the 2nd exit at the roundabout, into King’s Park Drive. The ground is on the left.

Bournemouth Central Station is a bit of a hike from the ground but Pokesdown station is a bit nearer

Can I watch it on telly?
Saturday 3 o'clocker so not legally no. You need a naughty stream or a pub with a dodgy dish.

Big game?
Huge.

Villa's last away Premier League game was also on the south coast and was nothing less than an unmitigated disaster as we crumbled 6-1.

Newly-promoted teams have habit of playing beyond their capabilities in the early games of the season so it's a really shitty time to be playing Bournemouth.

This game will certainly be a very different proposition to the FA Cup clash in the winter.

The "spine" of last season has been extracted. No big loss when you think of how many games in which we lacked backbone last season. Tim, helped the recruitment team at Bodymoor Heath, has brought in a new bunch of players who possess undoubted talent, but the key will be getting them to gel.

This sort of thing takes time, so it would be nice if those less patience elements of our fan base gave them a bit of time to settle and didn't start catcalling at the first misplaced pass.

Unlikely though, with support as big as ours, there's always gonna be the odd knobhead. Once a bellend always a bellend.

Typical Bournemouth fan

Do Bournemouth boast any famous fans?
Really struggling with this one.

There is of course Matt Tong who used to be drummer and backing vocalist for Bloc Party (shrugs).

Even more bizarrely dyed-in-the-wool Geordie and TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss claims to support the south coast club. Jayne is a former topless model who can cook, so the ideal woman in the eyes of some...

We've got David Bradley off of films and the telly.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Judging by pre-season we'll see Micah Richards and Ciaran Clark paired at the back, Jordan Amavi has really impressed at left back in pre-season and Alan Hutton looks set to keep the right back berth after Crespo limped off at Forest.

Idrissa Gueye is an almost certain starter while Ashley Westwood will be challenged for a starting spot by Carlos Sanchez and Jordan Veretout. Bacuna has been a strong presence in pre-season and may well get a chance.

Libor Kozak and Rudy Gestede will be fighting to lead the line while Scott Sinclair's City Ground hat-trick makes him difficult to leave out.

Particular impressed by the movement and work rate of Jordan Ayew. Fans who just follow the ball won't get him at all but those who know their football will soon appreciate what he has to offer.

Even with players out injured, we now have competition for places.

Who's playing for them?
Players in: Artur Boruc (Southampton); Adam Federici (Reading); Joshua King (Blackburn Rovers); Christian Atsu (Chelsea); Tyrone Mings (Ipswich Town); Sylvain Distin (Everton)

They've also retained the services of Callum Wilson.

Their Achilles' heel last season was letting leads slip so we must keep our heads up if we go behind. All may not be lost.

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Bournemouth have beaten us once while we have 3 wins. There has been 1 draw.

• Last time we played The Cherries in the league at Villa Park, we laboured to a 1-1 draw with a goal from Mark Walters, Villa's 6000th league goal.

• In our last encounter with Bournemouth at their place, we won 2-1 thanks to goals from Tony Daley and David Platt

• Back in January goals from Carles Gil and Andreas Weimann give Aston Villa victory over Bournemouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Gil's strike was awarded Villa's Goal of the Season. Before this game, Fabian Delph pledged undying loyalty to the club.

Prediction
2-1 to us