AFC Bournemouth vs Aston Villa Preview

Something has to give at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday night, where Bournemouth and Aston Villa meet in the Carabao Cup last 16 with both sides on four-match winning runs. Bournemouth’s streak includes a 3-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday and a 3-0 Europa League victory over AC Milan, while Villa’s latest was a 2-1 home win over Manchester City on Saturday. History favours the visitors, though: Bournemouth have not beaten Villa in any of the last five meetings. A place in the quarter-finals is on offer. Kick-off is at 7:45pm GMT.

Bournemouth have won four in a row without conceding. Sunday’s 3-0 victory at Old Trafford was the latest, three days after a 3-0 home win over AC Milan in the Europa League. Before those two, Sunderland were beaten 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium in the league and Sturm Graz 3-0 in Europe. The only defeat in the sample, and the only game in which they conceded, is the oldest of the five: a 5-1 loss away to Chelsea on 10 October. That adds up to four wins and a defeat, with 12 goals scored and five conceded, and three of the four wins came at home. Their turnaround is the tighter of the two sides’, with this tie coming three days after the trip to Manchester.

Four wins and a draw, 14 goals scored and four conceded: Villa arrive in similar shape. The latest was Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Manchester City, which came three days after a 3-1 win over Viking in the Champions League. Earlier in the run they won 1-0 away at Newcastle and beat Fenerbahce 6-0 at home in Europe, the biggest scoreline of the sample. The one game they did not win is the oldest of the five, a 2-2 home draw with Brentford on 10 October. Four of the five were at home, where they scored 13 times, and the only away game was that win on Tyneside. Villa have had four days to prepare since the City game.

Aston Villa have had the upper hand in this fixture recently, winning three of the last five meetings with the other two drawn, and Bournemouth have not won any of them. The most recent was a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium in February, and before that Villa won 4-0 at home in November 2025, the most one-sided result of the five. Bournemouth’s record on their own ground is particularly thin, with one point from two home meetings, as a 1-0 Villa win there in May 2025 sits alongside that February draw. Villa have scored in all five meetings, while Bournemouth were held scoreless in two.

This is one of eight ties in the round, running from Tuesday to Thursday. Fulham against Crystal Palace and Sunderland against Brentford share the same 7:45pm kick-off on Wednesday, with Liverpool hosting Chelsea later in the evening.

UK viewers can stream the tie on Sky Sports+. In the USA it’s on CBS Sports Golazo, with streaming on Paramount+, while Canadian viewers can watch through DAZN Canada or fuboTV Canada.

Possible Lineups

AFC Bournemouth — Form

Aston Villa — Form

Head to Head

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Carabao Cup