Aston Villa took care of business on Friday night, in the first match of this weekend’s FA Cup ties. This weekend brought the 5th round, where Villa bested Cardiff City 2-0. The celebratory period is very short-lived though, as it’s already time to move on to another tournament, the UEFA Champions League. Aston Villa are up first in the next round of that competition as well, with a trip to Belgian side Club Brugge awaiting on Tuesday night. So with that in mind, let’s get to the match preview and the FYIs.
UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Leg 1 of 2, FYIs
Aston Villa at Club Brugge
Kickoff: Tue. March 4, 5:45pm, Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium
Result Probability via Google: Aston Villa 38% Draw 28% Club Brugge 34%
Aston Villa Team News at Club Brugge
Donyell Malen (unspecified illness) and Matty Cash (undisclosed issue) were regarded as in contention to make the matchday squad last night. However, neither of them did end up being included, and that casts some doubt on whether or not they’ll be fit to feature here.
Tyrone Mings (knee) is another player in this situation, as he’s 50/50 here. Finally, Pau Torres (ankle), Amadou Onana (thigh) and Ross Barkley (knee) are still looking at potentially returning from injury next weekend, but not here.
Starting XI Prediction at Club Brugge
Emiliano Martinez; Andres Garcia, Axel Disasi, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne; John McGinn, Youri Tielemans; Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins
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. 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.