Looking to build on their triumph at Villa Park earlier this month, Aston Villa return to the Champions League on Tuesday night when they host Bologna.
The team with the most draws in Italy - who will travel to Birmingham with just one win in all competitions this season - have only taken one point in UEFA's new group stage, while the other newcomers have maintained perfect records so far.
Latest Aston Villa vs Bologna team information
After dealing with a number of injuries just before the international break, Unai Emery has recently been able to welcome back some familiar faces - alongside a few long-term absentees.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are both available after months out with serious knee injuries, while Villa captain John McGinn has returned from a hamstring injury and made a brief appearance at the weekend.
Emery is likely to rotate his squad again, but Ollie Watkins remains the frontrunner to start up front - leaving Jhon Duran on the bench - and in-form striker Morgan Rogers is almost impossible to replace.
Both scored on Saturday, while Rogers has completed more dribbles than any other player in the Champions League this season (nine), with five coming against Bayern Munich in the previous round.
Meanwhile, Bologna will be hoping to recover some of the players who were sidelined in the draw with Genoa, with Swiss internationals Dan Ndoye and Michel Aebischer joining Villa winger Samuel Iling-Junior and Croatia centre-back Martin Erlic.
Nicolo Cambiaghi, Oussama El Azzouzi and Lewis Ferguson are also out - although the latter has returned to full training - so Vincenzo Italiano has fewer attacking options to choose from.
Up front, teenage striker Santiago Castro is likely to replace Thijs Dallinga, while captain Riccardo Orsolini could feature on the right flank, having scored his first away goal in Serie A since January.
Aston Villa vs Bologna latest predicted lineup
Aston Villa:
Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Bologna:
Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Fabbian, Karlsson; Castro
Latest Aston Villa vs Bologna football prediction
Recreating the famous feat of 1982 - when they were crowned European champions for the first and only time - Aston Villa revived memories by defeating the mighty Bayern Munich in their first home Champions League game, with a determined defensive display, punctuated by a moment of magic from their trusted substitute.
When veteran Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer erred off his line, Pau Torres' superb pass set up Jhon Duran to slot home a perfect strike, giving Villa maximum points from two games.
Unai Emery's players earlier secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Young Boys in Switzerland, and another win this week would see the Basque boss claim his 25th Champions League success, becoming only the fifth Spanish manager to achieve the feat, after Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique.
Furthermore, the Villans can become just the third team to win their opening three games in Europe's top competition without conceding a goal, after Malaga in 2012 and Leicester City four years later.
Of course, such statistics will not matter much to Emery, who has proven his ability so far by keeping his side in the Premier League's top six.
After falling a goal behind early against Fulham, a Villa comeback – aided by goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, along with a penalty save from Emi Martinez – saw the second city side extend their unbeaten run to nine games on Saturday.
In fact, their tally of 17 points from eight top-flight games is their best start since 1998, setting them up for their first meeting with Champions League newcomers Bologna.
While the visitors have lost just one game since the end of August - against Premier League leaders Liverpool - the mood in the Bologna squad could be very different ahead of this midweek trip to England.
After a summer of change, the Rossoblu currently sit 13th in Serie A, with new coach Vincenzo Italiano having managed just one win in 10 games so far - including a disappointing draw with Genoa last time out.
Although goals from Riccardo Orsolini and Jens Odgaard put them in control at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday night, they let two points slip away in the final 20 minutes and eventually had to settle for a point.
It was the Emilian club's seventh draw this season, and it has been a similar story all year: among Europe's top five leagues, only Juventus are the Italian side with more draws in 2024.
After kick-starting their European campaign with a goalless draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, they could now become the first team to fail to score in any of their first three Champions League games since Austria Vienna did it in 2013.
So scoring at least one goal and securing a point in Emilia-Romagna will certainly be seen as a success for the Italiano and his players on Tuesday night. Compared to recent games at Villa Park, this one is likely to be a less noisy affair, with Bologna likely to adopt a cautious approach.
While Aston Villa still have their defensive weaknesses, the Rossoblu have often failed to take their chances - and their lack of attacking power could prove costly again.
Aston Villa vs Bologna score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the Aston Villa vs Bologna match:
- Sportsmole: Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna
- WhoScore: Aston Villa 2-1 Bologna
- Our prediction: Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna
When and where to watch Aston Villa vs Bologna live?
To watch live the match Aston Villa vs Bologna in the Champions League taking place at 3:00 on October 23, viewers can watch on K+ Sport, K+PM or online sports channels. Wish you all have fun watching football.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nhan-dinh-du-doan-aston-villa-vs-bologna-chu-nha-sach-luoi-232130.html
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