Aston Villa aim to continue their impressive start to the season when they host Italian side Bologna in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Unai Emery’s side have lost just once this season – a 2-0 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League – and have proved their worth in the Champions League with wins over Young Boys and Bayern from Munich The Midlands club are currently sixth in the league stage standings and will be looking to make it a third European win in a row on Tuesday.
Bologna upset the odds to qualify for the Champions League but have endured a tough start to the 2024/25 season. Following the departure of former manager Thiago Motta, the Serie A side have struggled to secure wins, securing just one in all competitions. They have been tough to beat, though, with just two defeats to their name.
here it is 90 minutes‘s Aston Villa vs Bologna guide.
Aston Villa vs Bologna H2H Record
This is the first competitive match between Aston Villa and Bologna.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Aston Villa |
bologna |
|---|---|
|
Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa – 19/10/24 |
Genoa 2-2 Bologna – 19/10/24 |
|
Aston Villa 0-0 Man Utd – 06/10/24 |
Bologna 0-0 Parma – 06/10/24 |
|
Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich – 02/10/24 |
Liverpool 2-0 Bologna – 02/10/24 |
|
Ipswich 2-2 Aston Villa – 29/09/24 |
Bologna 1-1 Atalanta – 28/09/24 |
|
Wycombe 1-2 Aston Villa – 24/09/24 |
Monza 1-2 Bologna – 22/10/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
Application TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate, discovery+, discovery+ |
|
united states |
Paramount+, ViX, fuboTV, CBS Sports Network |
|
canada |
DAZN |
John McGinn returned to action from the bench during the weekend’s 3-1 win against Fulham, with the Scot having been sidelined for around a month. Boubacar Kamara had been missing since February but the midfielder was named on the bench at Craven Cottage.
Tyrone Mings has been another long-term absentee but could feature in Tuesday’s squad after more than a year out of action. However, backup goaltender Robin Olsen will miss out with a head injury.
Emery has been reluctant to make too many changes between the Premier League and Champions League games this season, meaning he could field a very similar line-up to the one that won in West London at the weekend.
Aston Villa’s predicted line-up against Bologna (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
Bologna have a mountain of injuries heading to Villa Park, including Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior. He is joined by Michel Aebischer, Martin Erlic and Lewis Ferguson in the treatment room.
Swiss striker Dan Ndoye, who caused Liverpool problems in their last European outing in Bologna, missed the weekend tie with Genoa but could return on Tuesday. The same goes for Moroccan defender Oussama El Azzouzi, who has yet to play this season.
Predicted line-up of Bologna against Aston Villa (4-1-4-1): Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler; Orsolini, Urbanski, Morrow; Dallinga
Bologna have been the draw specialist this season, going seven of their nine games without a win. However, they have had a fairly favorable run of games at the start of the new campaign against some Series Athe weaker sides.
Although they showed their teeth against Liverpool in defeat, it seems unlikely that the Italian side will be able to improve on their result at Anfield when they return to England. They have scored just nine times in eight Serie A games and haven’t been particularly inspiring at the back.
Village they are in tremendous form as they continue to juggle European football and the Premier League without a hitch. They have been electric in front of goal this season and have kept clean sheets against Bayern Munich and Manchester United in two of their last three games.
