Aston Villa team news as Unai Emery makes BIG changes for Europa League opener
It’s a huge, huge night for Aston Villa, who get their league phase campaign underway in the 2025/26 Europa League.
Villa start their latest European adventure at Villa Park on Thursday evening and there are more than a few surprises in Unai Emery‘s starting line-up.
Changes were expected after Villa’s winless start in the Premier League and Carabao Cup, but the under-fire manager has switched up more or less everything he could have realistically switched up except for Morgan Rogers, who inexplicably keeps his place while many of the players around him lose or do not gain theirs.
Emery has opted for Marco Bizot in goal with Emiliano Martínez notably absent from the matchday 22. Pau Torres comes in for Tyrone Mings at centre-back and Ian Maatsen gets a start at left-back.
Evann Guessand and Emi Buendía start with Rogers in Villa’s attacking three but the spearhead in front of them is not who we might have expected.
Ollie Watkins dropped
Striker Ollie Watkins has been out of sorts so far this season and takes a well deserved seat on the substitutes’ bench against Bologna, bringing (probably) Donyell Malen or (possibly) Guessand into the centre-forward position.
Watkins is one of a few first team regulars without adequate back-up but this shot across the bows from Emery is a match or two overdue.
Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho are also on the bench – again – and there’s also a return among the replacements for right-back Andrés García.
Sam Proctor rejoins the matchday squad as one of the goalkeeper options off the bench along with 17-year-old academy goalkeeper Rhys Oakley. Another 17-year-old, Bradley Burrowes, is also in the squad for the league phase opener.
Villa team v Bologna in full
Starting line-up: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatesen, Kamara, McGinn, Guessand, Rogers, Buendía, Malen
Substitutes: Proctor, Oakley, Digne, Lindelöf, Mings, Bogarde, García, Elliott, Sancho, Watkins, Burrowes
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