Aston Villa may have come up to the Premier League through the play-offs, giving them less time to prepare than Norwich City or Sheffield United, but they haven't held back in their summer spending. Only Man Utd spent more than Aston Villa's £144.5m summer spend and while such spending didn't do much good for Fulham, the opening game showed that Villa will try and take the scalps of every Premier League team they line up against.
Wesley Moraes is a Brazilian forward that signed from Club Brugge so I'd expect that Arnaut Danjum has the inside knowledge on him should Eddie Howe need information on this part of Villa's £22m strike force. Defender Matt Targett, 23, was signed from near-neighbours Southampton for £17m having been at Saints for 15 years. Douglas Luiz, 21, was signed from Man City although he had been playing at Girona FC on loan. He didn't play against Tottenham, but Villa stumped up £15m for him. Add in the experience signing of Tom Heaton and Villa aim to do a bit more than just survive this season.
Dean Smith is the man with the most pressure on him. Now that he has made it to the Premier League he has to find out how to win games at this level. Aston Villa would be thrilled to get their first three points against Bournemouth, so the Cherries have to be at their very best as I expect Villa to come at them like a whirlwind. Jack Grelish and John McGinn already impressed against Spurs and this will be a real test for Bournemouth's defence.
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| Villa have been big spenders this summer. |
It's probably funny to Bournemouth fans that Aston Villa's biggest transfer business was for Tyrone Mings at £26.5m. The ex-Bournemouth centre-back has been exceptional when he puts on a Villa shirt and it annoys me a bit that Mings didn't get the games he should have at Dean Court during his stay. But that's football. Injuries and bad luck played their part and Mings has found a good new home.
Wesley Moraes is a Brazilian forward that signed from Club Brugge so I'd expect that Arnaut Danjum has the inside knowledge on him should Eddie Howe need information on this part of Villa's £22m strike force. Defender Matt Targett, 23, was signed from near-neighbours Southampton for £17m having been at Saints for 15 years. Douglas Luiz, 21, was signed from Man City although he had been playing at Girona FC on loan. He didn't play against Tottenham, but Villa stumped up £15m for him. Add in the experience signing of Tom Heaton and Villa aim to do a bit more than just survive this season.
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Dean Smith and Aston Villa's Press Conference
T-shirt competition
Yes, it's back while I still have a few shirts to give away. Send in your score prediction for Aston Villa v AFCB to @CherryChimes (make sure you follow me) on Twitter and see if you can win the prize. It's free to enter and if more than one person has the correct score I will pick one from the hat.
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