Aston Villa vs. Juventus: Champions League Preview and Predictions

When they play Juventus on Wednesday night, Aston Villa, newcomers to the Champions League, will aim for their first home hat trick.

Even though Unai Emery’s squad has struggled recently, they have a winning record at Villa Park in Europe’s premier tournament (two victories and one loss would put Juve ahead of them in the standings).

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Astoundingly, Aston Villa began their first Champions League season with a 3-0 record, defeating Young Boys in Switzerland, Bayern Munich in Birmingham (a match that will go down in history), and Bologna three weeks later.

However, earlier this month, amid a significant decline in fortunes in Europe and domestically, the Premier League team lost 1-0 away to Club Brugge.

After last weekend’s 2-2 home draw with struggling Crystal Palace, in which Villa had to come from behind twice to salvage a point—the second time being at Villa Park thanks to a late equalizer by Ross Barkley—they have won only five of their first twelve league matches.

The Villans’ 2-0 defeat against Liverpool just before the international break was their fourth consecutive loss in all competitions; they have fallen to eighth position in the English Premier League.

However, apart from losing the first leg against Olympiacos in the Conference League semi-finals last season, they have won eight of their last nine home games in Europe.

Unai Emery has two Champions League victories against Juventus, one with Sevilla in 2015 and the other with Villarreal seven years later. The Basque manager of Villa trained Thiago Motta, the current manager of Juve, at Paris Saint-Germain.

Aston Villa’s European Cup defence ended in 1983 in a 5-2 aggregate loss to the Bianconeri, and now he’s leading the Lions into their first encounter since then.

Even though they had won the European title twice, Juventus lost in the final that year against Hamburg, their seventh final loss overall.

Juve have been legendary continental powers for decades, but they have an equally pitiful record in England, winning just three of their past fifteen trips and losing nine.

Earlier this season, the Turin club shocked everyone by beating RB Leipzig 3-2 with only ten players on the field. It was their lone victory in seven Champions League away visits.

After getting off to a winning start in their return campaign against PSV Eindhoven and Leipzig, they have subsequently seen their momentum halt, with the exception of a last-second 1-0 loss to Stuttgart. With a 1-1 draw in Lille earlier this month, Motta’s side won and was drawn eight times in all competitions during this campaign.

After a frustrating goalless draw with AC Milan on Saturday, Juventus go into the second half of their Champions League qualifying campaign with seven points from four games. They are now in the hunt for a spot in the knockout stages.

However, with the finest defensive record in Italy’s top flight—seven goals surrendered and nine clean sheets—they are the only undefeated team in Serie A after thirteen matches.

With six clubs separated by only four points in a very tight championship battle, Juve are itching to win the Scudetto again after a few dry spells, but they also need to keep an eye on making sure they advance in Europe.

Aston Villa x Juventus Team News

Jacob Ramsey (hamstring) and Amadou Onana (foot) hurt themselves recently, limiting Unai Emery’s options. Onana will not play on Saturdays after withdrawing from Belgium’s second UEFA Nations League match. 

Ross Barkley and Matty Cash will probably start in midweek instead of Boubacar Kamara and Ezri Konsa, two English defenders and French midfielders, who are scheduled to sit out the match against Juventus.

In the attacking third, Ollie Watkins, who equalized for Villa against Palace, will again face a battle against Jhon Duran, a rival who has scored in both Villa Park’s Champions League matches this season.

Dusan Vlahovic is Juve’s undeniable star player. He has scored five goals in six Champions League away games this season, but he has been sidelined with a thigh injury since pulling out of Serbia’s recent draw with Denmark.

Thiago Motta decided to risk against Milan without his usual centre striker since his deputy Arkadiusz Milik is sidelined until next year. Unfortunately, that move backfired.

Bremer and Juan Cabal, two South American defenders, have both had anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears this season, while Nico Gonzalez, an Argentine winger, is out with a thigh injury.

Douglas Luiz, a fan favourite at Villa Park, and Weston McKennie, who was nearly signed to replace the Brazilian, are both questionable owing to muscle problems.

Our predictions

Juventus to win @ 3.15 on Sky247.ng

Aston Villa last played to their potential at the tail end of October, and Juventus are notoriously difficult to beat.

Juve still has enough guts and brains to cause even more pain for their sick hosts, whose winless streak will continue despite their absences.

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