Bologna FC 1909 v Aston Villa Pre-Match

[Dave]

Martinez
Cash
Konsa
Torres
Digne
Onana
Luiz
McGinn
Watkins
Rogers
Beundia

Tielemans off the bench, Bailey and Abrahams as options

Reckon I'd go full 2024 - so that, but Tielemans instead of Buendia playing at 10, Maatsen instead of Digne. Rogers pushed up closer to Watkins and slightly left of centre, McGinn tucked in, right of centre.

[LeeB]

Really looking forward to the game now. This is the start of the business end of the season. Let's go and do a proper job, the lads should be pretty much rested and raring to go. Time to step it up a gear or two. We know Bologna will throw everything at us but no doubt Unai has a plan and it usually works.

European football is often like a game of chess and we have a Grand Master leading us.

0-3 Villa (Rogers, Watkins and whoever takes our penalties).

Hoping we begin this stretch of games looking like we
 mean business.

I reckon we will. We've always been streaky under Emery (with the good ones massively outweighing the bad, obviously). We've done a bad one, started a good one with McGinn and Youri back and a run of favourable fixtures.

Reckon we'll look back in June and wonder what all the panic was about.

This is where I am. It was the second half of the Lille game, just felt like we'd suddenly come out of the woods and everything was right again, from that point I've felt confident again.

[eamonn]

So their manager's surname is Italiano. I though that kind of thing only happened to Stephen Ireland and Nicky English.

[eye digress]

Really looking forward to the game now. This is the start of the business end of the season. Let's go and do a proper job, the lads should be pretty much rested and raring to go. Time to step it up a gear or two. We know Bologna will throw everything at us but no doubt Unai has a plan and it usually works.

European football is often like a game of chess and we have a Grand Master leading us.

0-3 Villa (Rogers, Watkins and whoever takes our penalties).

Hoping we begin this stretch of games looking like we
 mean business.

I reckon we will. We've always been streaky under Emery (with the good ones massively outweighing the bad, obviously). We've done a bad one, started a good one with McGinn and Youri back and a run of favourable fixtures.

Reckon we'll look back in June and wonder what all the panic was about.

All the stars are aligned in that direction, barring Kamara’s absence. I want us to be one of those teams that not only wins, but looks like it’s going to win.