England dominates the UEFA Champions League standings right now, as places #1-#3 are occupied by English clubs. The overall top spot…Aston Villa themselves. This has got to give the side yet another layer of morale boost heading into the continental clash at Club Brugge.
By the way, the fourth English club in UCL? It’s Arsenal, and they’re further down the table, although not in a really bad overall place, as they currently sit ninth.
So the Premier League is killing it on the continent.
UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 of 8
Club Brugge vs Aston Villa FC
Kickoff: Wed. Nov. 6, 5:45pm, Jan Breydel Stadium, Sint-Andries, Bruges, Belgium.
UCL Standing, Form: Aston Villa 1st, 9 pts, +6 GD, WWW Club Brugge 26th, 3 pts, -3 GD, LWL
Jhon Duran as the first choice to lead the line here?
Absolutely he should! He’s the Villans’ most effective and efficient scorer this season.
And in the few times that he’s been granted a starting assignment for a big game this season, it’s come in the UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa FC Starting XI Prediction at Club Brugge (Champions League)
Emiliano Martinez; Ezra Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans; John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey; Jhon Duran
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.