Bournemouth v Aston Villa preview: Cherries set for Premier League debut

Aston Villa travel to Bournemouth as the Cherries prepare for their first-ever match in the Premier League.

Following their incredible promotion from the Championship last season, where they finished as champions, Eddie Howe's side now face the challenge of hosting Villa in their top-flight opener.

Bournemouth have been busy in the transfer market so far, with Tyrone Mings, Sylvain Distin, Max Gradel and Lee Tomlin all in line for their debuts.

Aston Villa could hand starts to a whole host of new faces, including Jordan Ayew, Jordan Amavi and new captain Micah Richards, following the departures of Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph.

Team news

Bournemouth manager Howe expects a challenging team selection for the Cherries' maiden top-flight encounter and has nine summer signings to choose from in his squad.

Distin, the former Newcastle, Manchester City and Everton defender, is among those who could make his competitive debut.

Tim Sherwood will assess several of his new players before deciding whether to hand them their Aston Villa debuts.

Jores Okore is out with a knee injury, though, but is Sherwood's only definite absentee.

Stats

Bournemouth are playing in the top flight for the first time in their history. The last two teams to gain promotion to the highest tier for the first time (Reading and Hull) both opened with a home win.

Aston Villa finished three points clear of the drop last season, avoiding relegation for the first time since 1987.

The last of the four league meetings between the teams came in March 1998 in the old Divsion Two.

The two sides met in the FA Cup fourth round at Villa Park last season - with the hosts winning 2-1.

Merson's prediction

This is a massive game for Aston Villa because they’ve signed a lot of players that we don’t really know a lot about. Couple that with the fact they’ve lost their two best players in Benteke and Delph - which is an absolute nightmare - and that makes this a big football game.

Villa have been hovering over the relegation zone for the past two or three seasons and I think newly-promoted Bournemouth will cause them all sorts of problems at Dean Court.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (15/2 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Bournemouth are Sky Bet's even-money favourites for their Premier League bow against 14/5 shots Aston Villa, with the draw available at 12/5. Howe's side, who are 6/4 third favourites for relegation, can be backed at 9/4 to win to nil, or 100/30 to claim three points with both teams scoring. 

Callum Wilson and Yann Kermorgant are the 9/2 favourites to score the opener, with Villa's new signing Rudy Gestede an 11/4 shot to mark his debut with a goal.

Soccer Saturday Price Boost: Bournemouth, Everton & Leicester all to win, was 6/1, now 10/1 here.