Aston Villa travel to Bologna's Stadio Renato Dall'Ara for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. Unai Emery's side aim to build on their strong European form, with midfielder Youri Tielemans set to return from injury. Bologna enter the tie on a four-match winning streak.
Aston Villa head to Italy for a challenging Europa League quarter-final clash against Bologna at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. The Premier League club, managed by Unai Emery, who has won the competition three times with Sevilla, reached this stage after defeating Lille in the last 16. Villa seek their first major European trophy since the 1982 European Cup and view the Europa League as a potential path to Champions League qualification next season. Bologna advanced past Roma in extra time and have scored the joint-most goals in the competition this term, with 21 strikes and only two from penalties. The Italian side boast an impressive home record, unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 major European matches. Team news sees Bologna without suspended defender Martin Vitik but with left-back Juan Miranda available after his ban. Injuries sideline Benjamin Dominguez, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Thijs Dallinga, Jens Odgaard and goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, meaning Federico Ravaglia starts in goal. For Villa, Boubacar Kamara remains out with a knee injury and Jadon Sancho misses out due to a shoulder problem, but Tielemans is poised to feature after an ankle issue. Predicted lineups feature Ravaglia in goal for Bologna and Emiliano Martinez for Villa up front with Watkins leading the line. The match kicks off at 8pm UK time and will be broadcast on TNT Sports 2, with streaming available via HBO Max and Sky Go for eligible subscribers. Villa have won both prior European meetings with Bologna, both at home, and hold a perfect record of clean sheets in their last four games against Italian teams in major competitions.
