The Cherries must be aware that the Villa are hurting

It is one thing to run out and play a club that is top of the league and banging in the goals and quite another to take on a side that knows they are doomed to relegation. Aston Villa may not have much to play for apart from their pride but they will not want to go the rest of the season without another win and their regeneration must start somewhere it's just that AFCB have to ensure it is not against them.

On the opening day it was all fire and flames but Villa are still getting burnt. 

Quite why it has taken Villa to make some positive moves by bringing their football greats in and motivating the current squad is their own business, but the spanking their team got last week against Chelsea has to have had an affect on how they go about the Bournemouth game. They are as low as they could possibly be after that defeat and they know they face relegation today if they don't put in a performance against the Cherries. It is never nice to get relegated, but to go down in front of your own fans with five games still remaining really highlights that Villa are in a very dark place.

AFCB have to take advantage of that. It is dog eat dog and the Cherries can secure their Premier League survival on the pitch at Villa Park. I believe this will be very much like the cup game we saw only a year ago only now AFCB will have their first team out and it is a first team that has performed far better than Villa's best team all season. Villa are still in transition with a caretaker manager and have more or less run out of ideas as to what to do on the pitch this season.

Now is not the time for AFCB to be complacent. They have a massive prize just waiting for them to take and they won't have too many opportunities better than this to demonstrate why they sit where they are in the table and why other clubs are now in more trouble than them. We have seen the Cherries rise to the occasion in pressure matches like those against Norwich at home and Newcastle away and this match will be similarly a high tension game, but it is one that the players know they can win and consign Aston Villa to their fate. UTCIAD!

Aston Villa Home Form
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AFCB Away Form
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Score Prediction Competition

We have saved the best to last. If you play the Score Prediction game this week you can win a Steve Fletcher USB 4GB memory stick. 

Just Tweet @CherryChimes your score prediction for the Aston Villa v AFCB match making it clear what score you are giving each team. If there is more than one entry with the correct score we will draw from a hat. 

As long as one of you gets the score right though this will be the last week this season that we have a prize to give away so I hope you have enjoyed playing - we'll still play for fun for the remaining games.

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I also forgot telling you about the Back of the Net podcast this week! Check out Episode 6 - the Iturbe conspiracy. 

Meanwhile, my Villa Underground interview is up and you can also see the reverse RivalLines interview on CherryChimes.