Aston Villa travel to Emilia-Romagna to take on Bologna at the Dall’Ara on Thursday night in the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie.
Aston Villa breezed through the league phase of the Europa League, winning seven of their eight matches to finish in second place, level on points with Lyon at the top of the table.
Unai Emery’s charges were then drawn to play Lille in the last-16, and after securing a 0-1 win in Northern France, completed the job seven days later by winning 2-0 at Villa Park.
Villa look on course to be playing in the Champions League next season, with their 2-0 win over West Ham United in their last Premier League outing moving them five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool.
Despite losing just one of their eight league-phase matches (W4-D3-L1), Bologna were forced to navigate a playoff after finishing a point outside of the top-eight in the league-phase table.
Vincenzo Italiano’s hosts recorded a pair of 1-0 victories over Brann to set up a last-16 tie with fellow Serie A side Roma.
Both legs ended in draws, with the Rossoblu advancing in extra time at the Olimpico, winning 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling tie.
Bologna have won four of their previous six Serie A contests following their 1-2 success at relegation-threatened Cremonese at the weekend, but they are still a distant nine points outside of the European places.
How the bookies view it: Villa slight favourites
Aston Villa have been installed as favourites to leave Emilia-Romagna with a win, with bet365 pricing an away success at 27/20.
Bologna are 21/10 to take an advantage to Villa Park next week, whilst the draw is marginally bigger at 23/10.
Head to head: Three wins on the spin for Villa?
These two clubs have met in each of their past two seasons, with Unai Emery’s men winning 2-0 in the league phase of the Champions League last season, before winning 1-0 on MD1 in the league phase of the Europa League this term.
Both of those victories came at Villa Park, with this being their first meeting at the Renato Dall’Ara.
Players to watch: More McGinn magic?
John McGinn has made an immediate impact for Aston Villa since returning from injury, as he has scored in each of Villa’s last two matches against Lille in the Europa League and West Ham United in the Premier League.
The Scottish international has also scored in both recent meetings against the Rossoblu – including the only goal when the sides last met in September – and the 11/5 on offer at bet365 for him to Score or Assist appeals to me here.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Bologna will be missing the injured Lukasz Skorupski and suspended Martin Vitik, but Juan Miranda does return from suspension.
Aston Villa will be without the injured Boubacar Kamara and Jason Sancho, whilst Ross Barkley is ineligible.
Bologna: Ravaglia, Mario, Heggem, Lucumbi, Miranda, Freuler, Moro, Bernardeschi, Sohm, Rowe, Castro
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Digne, Onana, Luiz, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins
Anything else catch the eye?
It’s hard to envisage this being a high-scoring first-leg in Emilia-Romagna on Thursday night, with the 4/5 on offer at bet365 appealing to me.
Aston Villa’s opening 10 Europa League contests this season have averaged just 2.30 goals per game, with Under 2.5 Goals landing in six (60%) of them, including in both legs of their last-16 tie with Lille.
Under 2.5 Goals has also landed in 4/6 (67%) of Bologna’s home matches in Europe this campaign – as well as in both meetings with their visitors over the past couple of seasons – and another low-scoring clash between the pair looks likely on Thursday.
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