Bournemouth vs Aston Villa – News and Probable Lineups

Bournemouth will take on Aston Villa in the EFL Cup fourth round this Wednesday, with both teams having succeeded in overcoming their respective Manchester rivals over the weekend.

The Cherries and the Villans now find themselves in 13th and 9th place on the Premier League standings respectively.

Match overview

After Bournemouth suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat against Chelsea following the international break, head coach Marco Rose likely began to worry about the squad’s ability to manage the ongoing absences of Alex Scott and Junior Kroupi.

Fast-forward 15 days later, the south-coast club has achieved four consecutive victories, the latest being an impressive 3-0 win against Manchester United.

Such was Bournemouth’s dominance at Old Trafford that they could have won by an even greater margin; however, Rose would have been pleased to see his team build on their last top-flight win against Sunderland to ignite their season.

With Bournemouth now just two points away from the sixth spot in a tightly packed Premier League table, they also hold victories against Sturm Graz and AC Milan in the Europa League.

Aside from defeats against Liverpool and Chelsea, Bournemouth remains unbeaten in their other nine matches across all competitions (W6 D3).

On the other hand, Villa will arrive on the South coast having achieved six wins and one draw in their last seven matches.

This run began with a 3-1 victory at Coventry City in this cup, while their most recent success was a well-deserved 2-1 win against Manchester City last Saturday.

Despite having only two clean sheets during this period, Villa has scored 20 goals, and manager Emery will be optimistic that they can maintain their finishing prowess.

This match marks just the 18th competitive encounter between these two clubs. Villa remains undefeated in the last seven fixtures, and they have a three-match unbeaten streak (W2 D1) at the Vitality Stadium where they’ve conceded just once.

Team News

Rose is expected to make several changes to his Bournemouth lineup, with players like Michele Di Gregorio, Bafode Diakite, Julio Soler, Ryan Christie, Ben Gannon-Doak, David Brooks, Amine Adli, and Alvaro Rodriguez likely to receive starting opportunities.

However, as Junior Kroupi is returning from a long-term injury, last season’s top scorer is expected to be benched.

Adam Smith, James Hill, and Lewis Cook could retain their places in the lineup.

Emery will also likely implement extensive changes to his Aston Villa side, although Pau Torres might keep his starting position to provide resting opportunities for Matty Cash and Victor Lindelof. Ian Maatsen may also be among the substitutes after coming back from injury.

Lamare Bogarde could fill in at right-back, Leon Goretzka might be making his first start for Villa, while Brian Madjo could be deployed at the center of the attack.

Alejandro Garnacho and Tammy Abraham are set to be included on the bench.

Bournemouth probable starting XI:

Of Gregory; Smith, Hill, Diakite, Soler; Cook, Christie; Gannon-Doak, Brooks, Adley; Rodriguez

Aston Villa probable starting XI:

Bizot; Bogarde, Harwood-Bellis, Torres, Mings; Barkley, Goretzka; Mbaye, Buendia, Hemmings; Madjo

Given the anticipated extensive squad rotation, predicting this match could prove to be challenging. However, if both teams take an attacking approach, that may favor an Aston Villa side with greater depth, leading us to expect the visitors to emerge victorious in a thrilling five-goal contest.