Bournemouth vs. Aston Villa: Unai Emery bidding to post club first, weaken remarkable Cherries Premier League record

Aston Villa have the opportunity to record a club first when they play Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams head into the Premier League fixture at the Vitality Stadium looking to record a key win in the context of their respective seasons.

From Bournemouth's perspective, they are bidding to further improve a recent run that has seen them accumulate 10 points from a possible 12 to move back to within six points of the top six.

Meanwhile, kicking off at the same time as leaders Arsenal host Sunderland, Villa are aware that only a win will do if they want to guarantee that a seven-point deficit to the Gunners is not extended.

However, for that to be achieved, Unai Emery's side will need to do something that no Villa team in years gone by has pulled off.

© Imago / Sportimage

What club first can Villa achieve against Bournemouth?

In November, Villa recorded a 4-0 win over Bournemouth to extend the Cherries' winless record against them to six games.

Nevertheless, Villa have never registered a league double over the South-coast outfit in their history.

That said, it is worth noting that this will represent just the 17th time that these two teams have met in a competitive fixture.

© Imago / Sportimage

Reasons for Bournemouth to be positive

Despite their status in the Premier League, Bournemouth have incredibly won five of their last seven matches against teams beginning the day in the top three of the table.

The most reason occasion came when Tottenham Hotspur sat in third place prior to Bournemouth prevailing in North London on August 30.

Meanwhile, Junior Kroupi is proving to be one of the standout youngsters in the division, with the 19-year-old's goal during last weekend's 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers making it eight strikes for 2025-26.

He now has the best conversion rate (38.1%) of any player in the division who has taken 10 or more shots, while the Frenchman also boasts the best goal-per-minute ratio (a goal every 98 minutes) for players to have netted more than once.