UEL: Bologna vs. Aston Villa – Probable line-ups and where to watch on TV
Bologna will need to put their troubling home record behind them and dig into their encouraging Europa League form when they host Europa League favourites Aston Villa in the first leg of the tournament’s quarter-final on Thursday evening.
The Rossoblu, currently eighth place in Serie A, beat domestic rivals Roma 5-4 over two legs of the Europa League round of 16 in order to qualify for tonight’s quarter-final. Aston Villa, who finished the Europa League league phase in second place and are currently fourth in the Premier League, beat Lille twice over with a 3-0 aggregate scoreline during the previous round.
Should Bologna overcome their Premier League opponents over two legs, they will qualify for the Europa League semi-final for just the second time in the club’s history, and for the first time since 1998-99 (UEFA Cup).
Vincenzo Italiano is expected to name his strongest available line-up, led by Santiago Castro at centre-forward with support from Federico Bernardeschi and either Jonathan Rowe or Nicolo Cambiaghi.
Lewis Ferguson, Remo Freuler and either Tommaso Pobega or Nikola Moro are the likely midfielders, with an expected back four of Joao Mario, Jhon Lucumi, Torbjorn Heggem and Juan Miranda.
Bologna are expected to be without Lukasz Skorupski, Benja Dominguez, Thijs Dallinga and Jens Odgaard.
Boubacar Kamara is Aston Villa’s only injury absentee. Former Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz is expected to be among Unai Emery’s selections, along with the likes of John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.
Kick-off is due at 20.00 BST.
Bologna vs. Aston Villa: Probable line-ups
Bologna (4-3-3): Ravaglia; J.Mario, Lucumi, Heggem, Miranda; Ferguson, Freuler, Pobega; Bernardeschi, Castro, Rowe.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, P.Torres, Digne; Onana, D.Luiz; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins
Where to watch Bologna vs. Aston Villa
Tonight’s game will be available to watch live in the UK on TNT Sports 2 and through Discovery+. Supporters in the USA are able to tune in via Paramount+.
Join us for all the pre-match build-up, in-game coverage and post-match reactions on the Football Italia Liveblog.