Aston Villa will continue their preparations for the 2025/26 campaign when they head to Hansa Rostock on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s side kicked off their pre-season schedule on Wednesday night, falling to a 1-0 defeat away at Walsall.
That was the first of eight friendly fixtures that Villa will fulfil ahead of their Premier league opener at home to Newcastle next month.
Following this weekend's clash with Hansa, Emery and his squad will jet out to the United States for a training camp and a trio of exhibition matches.
As for Hansa Rostock, they will be aiming to mount another push for promotion in the 3. Liga this coming season after placing fifth last term.
Daniel Brinkmann’s men will get their domestic campaign underway in early August when they travel to Erzgebirge Aue.
How the bookies view it: Odds currently unavailable
At the time of writing, the bookmakers’ have yet to release odds for Saturday’s friendly fixture at the Ostseestadion. Prices will appear here once they become available.
Head to head: History book blank
Given the contrasting levels that these two teams operate at in their respective domestic leagues, it will come as no surprise to learn that Hansa Rostock and Aston Villa will go head-to-head for the first time ever this weekend.
It’s worth noting that Villa fared well against German opposition in last season’s Champions League, defeating both Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig during the league phase of the competition.
Players to watch: Jacob hoping to have a cracker of a season
Jacob Ramsey captained Aston Villa in their opening pre-season friendly with Walsall on Wednesday night. After scoring four goals and providing seven assists across all competitions last season, the Birmingham-born midfielder will be hoping to improve on that return in the forthcoming campaign.
Paul Stock looks to be the pick of the bunch in terms of Hansa’s summer signings. The 28-year-old attacking midfielder was a key performer for Elversberg in the 2.Bundelsiga in recent years.
Predicted line-ups
Hansa Rostock boss Brinkmann has been left with a massive hole to fill after last year’s top goalscorer Sigurd Haugen departed the club at the end of last season following a fruitful loan spell.
After heavily rotating his squad in midweek, Villa manager Emery is expected to take a similar approach in Germany this weekend, with a mixture of first-team and academy players set to feature.
Hansa Rostock: Uphoff; Neidhart, Ruschke, Pfanne, Gurleyen; Dirkner, Lebeau, Kinsombi, Schuster, Stock; Naderi,
Aston Villa: Marschall; Bogarde Mosquera, Torres, Moreno; Kamara, Barkley, Ramsey, Young, Jimoh-Aloba, Burrowes
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the type of line-up that Emery could field on Saturday, backing both teams to score could be worthy of consideration once prices become available.
A young Villa side failed to keep Walsall quiet in midweek, so Hansa Rostock could land a blow during this friendly fixture.
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, Over 2.5 goals could also be an option to pull the trigger on, price permitting.
GambleAware