- Aston Villa have won seven of nine European home games under Unai Emery
- Juventus have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 12 Champions League matches
- Recommended bet: Aston Villa to win

Aston Villa are relishing their Champions League journey and have the chance to edge closer to the knockout stages when taking on Juventus in their fifth assignment of the League Phase.

Unai Emery’s side have won three of their four Champions League matches, although they lost 1-0 away to Club Brugge earlier this month.

The loss to Bruges was sandwiched between a dip in domestic results which continued at the weekend when Villa drew 2-2 at home to Crystal Palace.

But Villa are well-placed in the League Phase and sit two points better off than Juventus, who drew 1-1 away to Lille on matchday four.

Juventus remain unbeaten in Serie A although seven of their 13 league games have seen the points shared, including Saturday’s 0-0 stalemate away to AC Milan.

Team news

Villa are in better shape after Pau Torres and Matty Cash shook off minor injuries to feature in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace.

However, Amadou Onana, Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara missed out at the weekend and rated doubtful for the midweek match. Jacob Ramsey is a definite absentee.

Juventus have an injury crisis in attack with Nico Gonzalez and Arkadiusz Milik ruled out and Dusan Vlahovic rated doubtful.

Defender Gleisen Bremer and Juan Cabal are long-term absentees.

The stats

Villa have won three of their four Champions League matches.

The Villans have gone six matches without a win in all competitions.

Juventus have won only one of their last seven Champions League away fixtures.

Each of Juve’s last four matches have featured less than three goals.

Prediction

Villa are in need of a boost and can return to winning ways against injury-hit Juventus, who may lack the firepower to cause them serious problems.

The last few weeks have been a tough period for the Villans but their manager, Unai Emery, is the right man to set them back on a successful course.

Emery’s squad has been stretched by injuries but there was a stronger look to the starting line up and bench for Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace.

Dropping points against Palace was disappointing, but there were positives to take for the midlands side who played with plenty of energy and registered 17 shots.

While Villa were decent going forward and loose at the back, Juventus relied on solid defence to secure a 0-0 weekend draw away to Milan.

Thiago Motta’s side have been hampered by injuries to their best attacking players and the outlook is unlikely to change a great deal for their trip to Birmingham.

Juventus have been defending well but they may struggle to keep Villa at bay and could end up on the wrong side of a low-scoring contest.

Back Aston Villa at 6/5 with LiveScore Bet.

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