Aston Villa (3) v Bologna 1909 (1) Pre Match

[olaftab]

What about Barkley?

Why didn't Barry take the pen?

[PeterWithesShin]

Sancho, Mings and Martinez all trained today.

[Baldy]

It's said every week in football, A two goal lead is a dangerous lead. Bologna are no mugs and know they have to score goals.

We can not afford to make too many changes. Complacency is our biggest threat but Unai will not let that happen and will make changes as soon as he considers tie won to protect booked players.

[Olneythelonely]

Bizot

Bogarde
Lindelof
Pau
Maatsen

Douglas Luiz
Onana
Tielemans
Buendia

Bailey
Abraham

Sancho in for Bailey if he's fit enough.

Exactly this team for Thursday. Rogers needs a rest anyway and we also need to protect yellow card situation.

Unai apparently disagrees with you both. In the presser he’s said he’s choosing the best players because they can’t miss a game we don’t qualify for.

[Dave]

Pfft, what the hell does that bozo know anyway.

[Olneythelonely]

Pfft, what the hell does that bozo know anyway.

Tbf, could be mind games. He’ll probably leave all 4 at home and play a 12-year old in goal.

[Rigadon]

Yeah, that’s what I’d expect at this stage.  Going out by playing a weaker side would be mental.  Players should be able to avoid daft yellow cards for an hour.  Finish the tie, then rest players.  If nothing else, this is the last thing we can actually win (and are favourites to do so).  Added to that, get it right and we only have a months worth of league games to really bothered about (in the context of of CL insurance if we fail to win Europa). 

[KevinGage]

Most right minded Villa fans know that Rowe is going to score after about 20 mins and have us crapping ourselves until the 78th.

I have us losing narrowly 2moz but still sneaking through.

[RamboandBruno]

Bizot

Bogarde
Lindelof
Pau
Maatsen

Douglas Luiz
Onana
Tielemans
Buendia

Bailey
Abraham

Sancho in for Bailey if he's fit enough.

Exactly this team for Thursday. Rogers needs a rest anyway and we also need to protect yellow card situation.

Unai apparently disagrees with you both. In the presser he’s said he’s choosing the best players because they can’t miss a game we don’t qualify for.

Yea saw that, and it also doesn’t feel like the Unai way to make wholesale changes for such a big game with so much at stake. Beundia might come in, Sancho might come in, but I just don’t see Cash, McGinn or Rogers being rested even with the risk of missing a semi final first leg.

[eamonn]

Jonathan Rowe must be delighted that in a niche corner of the internet he's now been built up to be the second coming of Garrincha.

heh  #gnasher

[eye digress]

It's said every week in football, A two goal lead is a dangerous lead. Bologna are no mugs and know they have to score goals.

We can not afford to make too many changes. Complacency is our biggest threat but Unai will not let that happen and will make changes as soon as he considers tie won to protect booked players.

But absent the Roma return fixture, it's not a side that has lots of goals in it (and even then, not without conceding a bunch either).

[PeterWithesShin]

A two goal lead results in victory something like 92% of the time in football, and would be even higher if we hadn't played ManU so often.

[Tony Daleys Shorts]

A two goal lead results in victory something like 92% of the time in football, and would be even higher if we hadn't played ManU so often.

Correct, the ‘two goal lead is dangerous’ talk is utter codswallop.

[ADVILLAFAN]

A two goal lead results in victory something like 92% of the time in football, and would be even higher if we hadn't played ManU so often.

Correct, the ‘two goal lead is dangerous’ talk is utter codswallop.

*utter codswallop 92% of the time.

[Hookeysmith]

81% of all statistics are bollocks.

Whilst scouring the BBC and SSN Web sites this morning for match updates I think our game must of been abandoned as not a dickie bird about us, being on the verge of a major semi final etc or Forest to be fair.

Both sites did however run pieces on potential Red filth centre half choices for the weekend in the absence of Slabhead....which was nice.

And we wonder why we cannot catch the scum 6 up