Does Distin have to come into the team?

The speed and power of the Premier League players has been noted and something that has given AFCB players more motivation to train harder than ever in pre-season. The header of Rudy Gestede that gave Aston Villa their victory over the Cherries is an indication that at times there is need to have a stronger physical presence and it is judging in which games where that is going to be needed is something that Eddie Howe will be mindful of.

It is the midfield though where I believe most Premier League teams will look to over power their opponents. the options for Howe in this central area are reduced slightly with Arter being out but he'll have to see what is needed to ensure the Cherries are not overrun. Against Villa the possession was in AFCB's favour but not to the extent that AFCB were so dominant that Tim Sherwood's side looked like they were being out-gunned. In Micah Richards and Ciaran Clark, Villa had a lot of experience in holding off AFCB's threats and getting the better of them proved too difficult this time.

Is Distin about to come in for the Liverpool game?

The size of Bournemouth's squad is not that large even with the new additions that have been brought in over the summer. Speed and trickery have been more favoured by Howe in the main. But the AFCB defence looked strong and were not dominated which bodes well going forward. If Liverpool field Christian Benteke though they will have even more of a physical test at Anfield and that may signal a reason to bring in Sylvain Distin for this match.

In other news I see that Steve Fletcher has a big smile on his face having seen AFCB draw Hartlepool Utd away in the Capital One Cup. Look out for my next article on Shoot's blog pages as later today.