Aston Villa will host Bologna at Villa Park in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, looking to continue their impressive run of form in Europe.
Aston Villa are coming into the game against Bologna on the back of two consecutive victories in the UEFA Champions League over Bayern Munich and BSC Young Boys. They will be confident of grinding out a positive result against the Serie A outfit at home as well.
Aston Villa are unbeaten in the last six matches in all competitions, and they picked up a comprehensive victory over Fulham at the weekend in the Premier League. They will be full of confidence and momentum heading into this game.
Meanwhile, Bologna are yet to pick up a win in the UEFA Champions League this season, and they are winless in five of their last six outings in all competitions. The Italian outfit are massive underdogs heading into this game, and it will be interesting to see if they can grind something out of the contest.
Team News & Tactics
Aston Villa
The home side will be without Robin Olsen due to a head injury. Aston Villa will shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Bologna, with Emiliano Martinez in goal.
Matty Cash and Lucas Digne will start as the full-backs. They will look to help out at the back and create opportunities for their teammates in the final third as well. Ezri Konsa will start alongside Pau Torres at the heart of the defence.
As for the midfield unit, Amadou Onana will look to break up opposition attacks and win the ball back for his side. Youri Tielemans will look to control the tempo of the game. Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey will add flair, creativity and pace to the side from the flanks. Morgan Rogers will start as the central attacking midfielder, and Ollie Watkins will lead the line for Aston Villa.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Ramsey, Rogers, Bailey; Watkins
Bologna
Bologna have multiple injury issues to deal with. Dan Ndoye is a doubt with physical discomfort, Samuel Iling-Junior misses out with a knee injury, Martin Erlic has a hamstring problem, Michel Aebischer misses out with a muscle injury, Oussama El Azzouzi is a doubt with a knee problem and Lewis Ferguson is sidelined with ACL damage.
The away side are likely to shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Lukasz Skorupski in goal. Stefan Posch and Juan Miranda Will start as the full-backs, and they will look to keep things compact defensively and hit Aston Villa on the counter. Sam Beukema and Jhon Lucumi will start as the central defenders here.
As for the midfield unit, Remo Freuler and Nikola Moro will provide defensive cover to the site, and they will look to break up the opposition’s attacking moves. Riccardo Orsolini and Jesper Karlsson will start in the wide areas, and they will look to create goalscoring opportunities for their teammates with their pace and flair.
Giovanni Fabbian will start as the central attacking midfielder here, and he will look to link the midfield with the attack. He will look to carve out goalscoring opportunities with his passing and vision as well. Finally, the in-demand Santiago Castro will lead the line for Bologna.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Fabbian, Karlsson; Castro
Key Stats
- Bologna have picked up just one win from their last six matches in all competitions.
- Bologna are yet to score in the UEFA Champions League this season.
- Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions.
- Aston Villa have kept a clean sheet in all of their Champions League outings this season.
- Only Feyenoord (606) have applied more pressures in the opposition’s half in the UEFA Champions League this season than Bologna (572), with 353 of them coming in the final third, only Manchester City (395) and Atletico Madrid (358) having more in 2024-25.
Player to Watch
Ollie Watkins
The Aston Villa striker is our key player to watch out for. He could cause all sorts of problems for a vulnerable Bologna defence. The Rossoblu are lacking in confidence and momentum right now. They are in very poor form, and Aston Villa should be able to exploit their vulnerabilities, especially at home. Watkins will look to carve open their defence with his creativity and link-up play. He will look to add to his goal tally for the season as well.
Prediction
Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna
Aston Villa are firm favourites heading into this contest, and they should be able to pick up all three points here. The visitors are struggling right now, and the English outfit are likely to pile further misery on them. A comprehensive home win is on the cards here. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-0 victory for Unai Emery and his charges.
