Bournemouth will be looking to make a winning start on their return to the Premier League as they host Aston Villa on Saturday.
Bournemouth were one of the best teams in the Championship last season and secured automatic promotion after finishing second behind runaway leaders Fulham.
The Cherries showed very little fight in preseason and head into their opening fixture off the back of three straight defeats. Their last two fixtures were at the Vitality Stadium where they lost to Championship side Bristol City and Spanish club Real Sociedad.
There has been very little transfer activity at Bournemouth and manager Scott Parker has not inspired confidence by his comments that the team is way short of where they need to be. To make matters worse, two of their signings Joe Rothwell and Ryan Fredericks are expected to miss Saturday’s opener with niggling injury concerns.
It was a mixed bag for Steven Gerrard in his first season with Aston Villa as he made a bright start before fizzling out towards the end of the campaign. Villa eventually finished just six points off the top 10 and with the benefit off a full preseason, will be keen to challenge further up the table.
In contrast to Bournemouth, Aston Villa appear to have strengthened in the transfer window, bringing in the likes of midfielder Boubacar Kamara and defender Diego Carlos. Key for them is that their business was done early and the new signings seem to have settled well into the squad.
The positives of that early business was evident in preseason as Aston Villa were unbeaten in their five friendly matches. They claimed wins over Leeds United and French side Rennes in that run while also playing out a 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
How the bookies view it
Aston Villa have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at evens with Betfred to claim the win on Saturday. Despite playing at home, Bournemouth are considered outsiders at 29/10 with SBK while bet365 is offering odds of 5/2 for a draw.
Recent head to head
Bournemouth have a solid recent record against Aston Villa, winning the last three meetings. The Cherries also did the double over Villa in their last Premier League campaign during the 2019-20 season with both matches ending 2-1.
Players to watch
Dominic Solanke was the star of the show for Bournemouth last season and is backed at odds of 12/5 by Paddy Power to score anytime on Saturday.
Danny Ings looked sharp in preseason and Aston Villa will be hoping he can stay fit this term. A fit Ings is always dangerous and BetVictor has the striker at odds of 21/10 to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Bournemouth and Aston Villa do not look particularly solid at the back and given their quality in attack, both teams could be backed to score at 6/7 with SBK. The last three meetings have produced over 2.5 goals which is priced at 21/20 with Sport Nation while over 3.5 goals is valued at 13/5 by Paddy Power.
Steven Gerrard often favours a fast start so Aston Villa could be tipped to score first on Saturday at 3/4 with BoyleSports.
This English Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Aston Villa will be played on Aug 6, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best AFC Bournemouth vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.