At Bournemouth: It wont make the season, but it could break it

Is anyone playing fantasy football? I am and because we're very much now at the business end of the season, I've put my faith in Ollie Watkins. We have three very big matches coming up and we need to win them all and I think if we create the opportunities for him, he'll put them away.

I'd go so far as to say that if we don't create the opportunities for him in these next three matches, we probably wont win. And chances for Ollie mean we have to be quick. It's not about taking our time and getting a cross in for him when the box is full, although that can work, it's about moving the ball quickly so he gets a chance to run at the keeper.

I appreciate these opportunities don't come around that often, but we need to have that approach today and we know we can. That said, like always, I'll take a scrappy 1-0 win from an own goal if it means three points, but I don't like those games and I didn't like how we seemed to play the match out against Fulham. 

And it's also a team game, so not just about Ollie. But these are the games where we are all going to look to Ollie to get a goal or two and I feel confident in saying that if he is on his game and he's terrorising the defenders, we are giving ourselves the best chance. 

And with Manchester City playing earlier, if they lose (anything can happen in football) winning today would put us one point behind them in third place. Today doesn't rest on City losing, but that we are this close, sort of puts things into perspective and shows how important the three points are today.

And with Newcastle and Chelsea playing each other tomorrow and Forest playing Leicester, we have to put pressure on them. Three points today has never been more important.

Match facts from the BBC

• Bournemouth lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa in their first ever Premier League match in August 2015. Since then, the Cherries are unbeaten in three at home to the Villans, scoring exactly two goals in each (W2 D1).

• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games against Bournemouth (W2 D2), having lost four in a row against the Cherries before this.

• Bournemouth have won seven of their 13 Premier League games against teams starting the day above them in the table this season (D3 L3), the highest win rate of any side to play more than one such game this term (54%).

• Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games (W2 D3), having lost four of their previous five beforehand (D1). Following their 2-1 win at Arsenal last time out, the Cherries are looking to win consecutive league games for the first time since January.

• After a run of just six wins in 21 Premier League games between September and February (D9 L6), Aston Villa have now won seven of their last nine (L2).

• Bournemouth have scored more goals in second half stoppage time than any other team in the Premier League this season (8), while only Southampton (10) have conceded more than Aston Villa in this time (8).

• Bournemouth have had more shots following a high turnover than any other side in the Premier League this season (65). Their 65 shots and eight goals from high turnovers this term are their most in any of their eight top-flight campaigns.

• Antoine Semenyo has been directly involved in three goals in his last four Premier League games for Bournemouth (2 goals, 1 assist). His two goals have put the Cherries 1-0 up in their last two home games (vs Fulham and Man Utd), while his assist came just two minutes after coming off the bench against Arsenal last time out.

• Evanilson has been directly involved in six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances for Bournemouth (5 goals, 1 assist), more than he had in his first 20 beforehand (5 goals).

• Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has been directly involved in five goals in his four Premier League starts against Bournemouth (1 goal, 4 assists), with his four assists against the Cherries his most against any opponent.