Aston Villa vs Bologna Prediction: Buendia can create again

Aston Villa know that they have one foot in the semi-finals of the Europa League, having beaten Bologna 3-1 in Italy in the first leg. 

They return to Villa Park for the rematch (20:00 BST, TNT Sports 2), with Unai Emery targeting more success in this competition. Below you can find my Aston Villa vs Bologna predictions.

Team News

Emiliano Martinez withdrew in the warm-up with a calf issue on Sunday, so it is unlikely that he will feature for the hosts in this one, so Marco Bizot will deputise once more. Jadon Sancho and Boubacar Kamara remain out injured, with Ross Barkley not registered for this competition. 

We can presume that Emery will name another strong line-up before resting players late on, so expect Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Morgan Rogers all to start.

Bologna should start Santiago Castro up top, with Federico Bernardeschi, Jon Rowe and Riccardo Orsolini all fighting for places in the attacking third. The latter ended his goal drought at the weekend and will hope to kick on if given the chance.

Martin Vitik is back from suspension and should feature but Jhon Lucumi is now banned for this clash on Thursday for the visitors. First-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski remains out so Federico Ravaglia will continue his run of games in goal.

Football Odds

Aston Villa vs Bologna Odds

Aston Villa are 7/10 to win this game in 90 minutes, with Bologna priced at 10/3 to take the win. A draw is 16/5, over 2.5 goals is 8/11 and BTTS is 4/5.

Watkins is the favourite to score first at 7/2, with Tammy Abraham priced at 4/1. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Both team to score @ 4/5

Bologna have to turn up and land a few blows on Villa in Birmingham, and that means they have to come out of the blocks quickly. I’d expect them to show huge attacking intent from the off, which means I think the price of 4/5 on both teams to score is very attractive indeed. 

It’s landed in five of the last eight Bologna matches in all competitions, while it is four in six from Villa’s perspective. There’s no point in the Italians playing for a clean sheet or not going for it early doors - they have to score at least twice to stay in the competition. That should lead to an open match, with plenty of chances at both ends. 

Emiliano Buendia to assist a goal @ 7/2

Buendia should feature in this game, and when he plays in this competition, he tends to cause the opposition problems. I’m hoping Villa’s forwards will be given slightly more space than usual if I Rossoblu throw players forward, and that means things could open up on the break. 

Buendia has been in superb form in this competition, creating four goals in his last six Europa League appearances. That includes one assist against Bologna in the first leg, so let’s back him to get another against the same opposition.

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