No Konsa, McGinn starts - Aston Villa starting XI vs Bologna predicted

Aston Villa host Bologna at Villa Park on Tuesday night in the Champions League league phase

Aston Villa are looking to make it three wins from three in the Champions League on Tuesday when Unai Emery's side host Bologna at Villa Park (8pm kick-off).

Villa beat BSC Young Boys at the Wankdorf Stadium in September before defeating German giants Bayern Munich earlier this month. Keeping clean sheets in both wins, Villa now know a victory over Bologna will put them in a brilliant position to qualify for the knockout stages.

The Serie A side have drawn seven of their first 10 matches in all competitions this season after losing their manager and a few key players in the summer. They drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar in their first Champions League match and were then beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield at the start of October.

READ | The brutal message that turned failing player into key man under Unai Emery

READ | Aston Villa braced for blow as striker walks tightrope

Villa come into the game on the back of an impressive 3-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. Morgan Rogers' fine form continued as he levelled the match in the ninth minute, before Emi Martinez saved Andreas Pereira's penalty.

Ollie Watkins then put Villa ahead on the hour and Joachim Andersen was sent off for denying the striker a goal-scoring opportunity minutes later. Lucas Digne's cross was then turned in by Issa Diop to confirm the points for Villa in the capital.

Martinez will continue in goal for Villa, but Emery could make a change or two in defence. Matty Cash is expected to start at right-back and Pau Torres at left centre-back, but Ezri Konsa could make a return to the side after sitting on the bench for the win over Fulham.

Diego Carlos started at Craven Cottage because Konsa has recently overcome a small injury which he nursed over the international break. It is probably wise to keep Konsa on the bench and start Carlos once again as the Brazilian impressed alongside Torres and there's no need to rush Konsa back with plenty of games coming before the next international break.

In midfield, Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans are likely to continue in the double pivot, while Jacob Ramsey played his best game for some time at the weekend and could keep his place on the left. Leon Bailey, however, has been struggling for form, so he could make way for John McGinn.

McGinn returned from injury at the weekend after coming off the bench late on against Fulham. Bailey is a crucial player for Villa, but he might need to rest and reset ahead of the weekend as Jaden Philogene is suspended for the league match against Bournemouth.

Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers will likely start at the top of the pitch, leaving super-sub Jhon Duran in reserve.

Aston Villa predicted XI vs Bologna: Martinez, Cash, Carlos, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Ramsey, Rogers, Watkins.

What is your Villa XI to face Bologna? Tell us here

Join our new Aston Villa WhatsApp community

BirminghamLive has launched its very own WhatsApp community to give you the opportunity to receive the latest Aston Villa news straight to your messages.

We will be sending the latest breaking news and top Villa stories directly to the WhatsApp community and we want you to be part of it. Users who want to join our community must have WhatsApp downloaded on their phone.

All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you joined the previous WhatsApp Community, make to sure to sign-up to our new one as they previous page experienced a technical error.

If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group'.

You can read our Privacy Notice here.