Bournemouth vs Aston Villa
Venue: Dean Court
Kick off: 3pm
Bournemouth begin life as a Premier League club when they take on Aston Villa at the newly-named Vitality Stadium on Saturday (today).
Following an impressive promotion from the second tier last time out, all eyes will be on Eddie Howe’s men to see if they can maintain their entertaining style of play.
Six years after being handed a whopping 17-point deduction, which left their Football League fate in the balance, the Cherries now prepare for their first campaign as a top-flight club.
There is no denying that Bournemouth fully deserved their promotion last time out, coming in a season that saw them rack up more goals than any other side, while arguably playing the most entertaining brand of football.
In all, the South Coast club found the net on 98 occasions on their way to finishing top, but it remains to be seen whether miracle worker Howe will adopt a different brand of football this term.
Bournemouth have certainly gone the right way about their business during the summer, bringing in strength across the field and particularly adding to the wide areas through Max Gradel and Christian Atsu.
A club-record fee was also splashed out for full-back Tyrone Mings, a player who in the past has been linked – like Gradel – with a top-four side.
Having just about avoided relegation from the top flight last season, thanks largely to the firefighting task achieved by Tim Sherwood, Villa will now be hoping to battle it out higher up the table.
These are uncharted territories for Sherwood, though, who has just taken charge of a team during pre-season for the first time in his short managerial career.
While questions are still to be asked of Tim Sherwood, the same can also be said of the Villans’ new recruits. Scott Sinclair and Micah Richard are well known to Premier League audiences, yet Idrissa Gueye, Jordan Amavi, Jordan Ayew, Jose Angel Crespo and Jordan Veretout remain untested in English football.
Each brings with them plenty of quality, which could be exactly what Villa need to ensure that a relegation fight is not on the cards this campaign.
There is also the addition of Rudy Gestede in attack, a man who thrives off crosses into the box from wide areas, but key men have also departed during the off-season.
The loss of Fabian Delph came as something of a shock just a week after he verbally committed his future to the Midlands outfit, while Christian Benteke’s goals were the difference between top flight and Championship football just a couple of years back.
Supporters will certainly hope that, with a change of manager in the dugout, combined with a new batch of players to cheer on, constant struggles could now turn into top-half finishes once more at the very least.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup: Boruc; Mings, Cook, Elphick, Francis; Pugh, Arter, Surman, Ritchie; Wilson, Gradel.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup: Guzan; Hutton, Richards, Clark, Amavi; Westwood, Sanchez, Gueye, Sinclair; Ayew, Gestede.