Saturday at the seaside: Bournemouth v Aston Villa match preview and team news

Villa's Premier League results have faltered but a win against stabilising AFC Bournemouth would go a long way towards putting it right.

Once upon a time, there was football. It was a Saturday sport for the most part, its fixture list dotted with midweek games to offer the thrill of floodlights, with the traditional kick-off time of 3.00pm scratched into the nation’s recreational psyche.

Aston Villa don’t play many 3.00pm Saturday matches now. Premier League football is a heavily televised entertainment machine anyway but Thursday nights in the Europa League ensure a big chunk of their season can’t be played on Saturday regardless.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that there will be a gap of more than a year between 3.00pm home games. There have been a few away from Villa Park in that time and the last of them will be against AFC Bournemouth this weekend.

Villa manager Unai Emery will renew acquaintances with his fellow Basque boss Andoni Iraola at the Vitality Stadium. Emery has come out on top in their previous meetings so far but Villa’s impressive season is just beginning to fray a little at the edges.