Aston Villavs.Bologna

Serie A's draw specialists - who will arrive in Birmingham with just one win across all competitions this season - have put only one point on the board in UEFA's new league phase, while their fellow newcomers have posted a perfect record so far.

Match preview

Replicating their famous feat of 1982 - when they were crowned European champions for the first and only time - Aston Villa turned back the clock to beat mighty Bayern Munich in their first Champions League home fixture, with a committed defensive performance being capped off by a moment of magic from their reliable super-sub.

When Bayern's veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer strayed off his line, a superb Pau Torres pass provided the assist for Jhon Duran to loft home an inch-perfect winner, putting Villa on maximum points from their two matches.

Unai Emery's men had previously cruised to a 3-0 victory over Young Boys in Switzerland, and another win this week would see Villa's beloved Basque boss pick up his 25th success in the Champions League, becoming only the fifth Spanish manager to achieve that feat, after Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique.

Furthermore, the Villans could become only the third team to win their opening three games in UEFA's top club tournament without conceding, following in the footsteps of Malaga in 2012 and Leicester City four years later.

Of course, such statistics will be of little importance to the meticulous Emery, who has managed to defy the doubters so far by keeping his side among the Premier League's top six.

After trailing to an early goal against Fulham, another Villa fightback - aided by goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, plus a penalty save from goalkeeper Emi Martinez - helped the second-city club extend their unbeaten streak to nine games across all competitions.

In fact, a tally of 17 points from eight league matches represents their best start to a top-flight season since 1998, teeing them up nicely for a first-ever meeting with fellow Champions League debutants Bologna.

While the visitors' only loss since the end of August came at the hands of Premier League pace-setters Liverpool, there may be a very different mood in the Bologna camp ahead of their latest midweek trip to England.

Following a summer of change, the Rossoblu find themselves occupying 13th place in the Serie A standings, and new coach Vincenzo Italiano has won just one of 10 matches to date - including a disappointing draw with Genoa last time out.

Even though goals from Riccardo Orsolini and Jens Odgaard put them in control at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening, Bologna proceeded to let two points slip during the final 20 minutes and were ultimately forced to settle for a single point.

That was the Emilian club's seventh share of the spoils this season, and it has been a similar story all year long: across Europe's top five leagues, only their Italian counterparts Juventus have drawn more games in 2024.

Having kicked off their long-awaited return to Europe's top table with a goalless draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, they could now become the first side not to score in any of their first three Champions League fixtures since Austria Vienna failed to do so back in 2013.

Therefore, taking even one goal and a point back home with them would surely represent a success for Italiano and co on Tuesday night.

Aston Villa Champions League form:

W

W

Aston Villa form (all competitions):

W

W

D

W

D

W

Bologna Champions League form:

D

L

Bologna form (all competitions):

D

W

D

L

D

D

Team News

After being besieged by injuries just before the international break, Unai Emery has recently been able to welcome back some familiar faces - in addition to a couple of long-term absentees.

Both Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are both back in the fold following several months on the sidelines with major knee injuries, while Villa captain John McGinn returned from a hamstring problem to make a cameo appearance at the weekend.

Emery may rotate his resources again, but Ollie Watkins remains favourite to start up front - consigning Jhon Duran to the bench - and in-form forward Morgan Rogers has made himself almost undroppable.

Both scored again on Saturday, while the latter has completed more dribbles than any other player in the Champions League this season (nine), with five coming against Bayern Munich last time out.

Meanwhile, Bologna must hope to recover some of the players that sat out their draw with Genoa, as Switzerland internationals Dan Ndoye and Michel Aebischer belatedly joined Aston Villa-owned winger Samuel Iling-Junior and Croatian defender Martin Erlic on the sidelines.

Nicolo Cambiaghi, Oussama El Azzouzi and Lewis Ferguson are all long-term absentees - though the latter is now back in full training - so Vincenzo Italiano has less attacking options to choose from.

Up front, teenage striker Santiago Castro is set to beat Thijs Dallinga to selection, while captain Riccardo Orsolini could feature on the right flank, having just registered his first away goal in Serie A since January.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Fabbian, Karlsson; Castro

We say: Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna

Compared to recent contests at Villa Park, this may be more of a low-key encounter, as Bologna are likely to take a cautious approach.

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