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Venue
- Villa Park
Where to Watch Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe: TV and online streams
Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe kicks off at 8pm BST on Wednesday, October 14 at Villa Park. In the UK, you can watch it on TNT Sports and stream via HBO Max.
If you live outside the UK, click the LINK HERE to find out where to watch it in your region.
Preview for Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe
Europe has always been Unai Emery’s sanctuary, and right now Aston Villa need it more than ever. The Europa League winners host Fenerbahçe at Villa Park on Wednesday night, hoping their Champions League form can make up for a miserable start to the domestic season.
Villa’s European campaign began in style. They won 3-2 at Club Brugge on matchday one, with Nicolas Jackson, John McGinn and Emiliano Buendía all on the scoresheet, and they head into this one sitting in the top half of the league-phase standings.
Back home, it has been a different story. Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brentford left Villa with just one win from their first six Premier League games, and they are still waiting for a first home league win of the season. Yehor Yarmoliuk put the Bees ahead early on after a Tyrone Mings mistake, Jackson equalised two minutes later, and McGinn’s goal looked like it might be enough before Kristoffer Ajer levelled late on.
“To draw at home is not a good result, and for this we are not happy, we are sad,” Emery admitted afterwards. He did see signs of progress from the home defeat to Nottingham Forest, though: “A better match today than against Forest. Keep going forward.”
Fenerbahçe arrive in better shape. İsmail Kartal’s side opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Roma in Istanbul, and they returned from the international break with a 3-0 win at Çaykur Rizespor on Saturday, though Kartal admitted Rize had three or four clear chances of their own.
Their squad is packed with experience, with Ederson, Milan Škriniar, Nathan Aké, N’Golo Kanté, Matteo Guendouzi and Marco Asensio all among the big names.
These sides met just nine months ago. Jadon Sancho’s first-half header gave Villa a 1-0 win in Istanbul in the Europa League league phase in January, a result that sealed their place in the last 16 on the way to lifting the trophy. Their only other meetings came in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1977-78.
The Champions League Table
- Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/8-finals)
- Position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/16-finals)
Team News for Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe
Emery has a full-blown left-back crisis. Matteo Ruggeri was forced off at half-time against Brentford with a hamstring injury, and with Ian Maatsen not expected back from his ankle injury until late November, Villa have no fit natural left-backs.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who replaced Ruggeri on Saturday, is in line to start on the left. “Aaron has played sometimes in that position before,” Emery said. “I will try to keep our structure without our two left-footed full-backs in Maatsen and Ruggeri, using other options to practice and play without changing anything.”
George Hemmings missed the Brentford game with a minor knee problem, but Emery said the teenager won’t be out for long. Amadou Onana (cruciate ligament) and Modou Kéba Cissé remain sidelined, while Leon Goretzka and Brian Madjo are back in team training.
For Fenerbahçe, Asensio marked his return to the starting XI with a goal against Rize after an injury lay-off, although he is not thought to be fully up to speed yet.
Expected line-ups for Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe
Aston Villa: Suzuki; Cash, Lindelöf, Torres, Wan-Bissaka; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Buendía, Manzambi; Jackson
Fenerbahce: Ederson; Semedo, Škriniar, Aké, Brown; Kanté, Guendouzi; Oğuz Aydın, Asensio, Greenwood; Muriqi
Stats for Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe
Prediction for Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe
Villa are still struggling to find their fluency following a summer of upheaval. Fener are packed with experience and in Mason Greenwood have a forward who can hurt them on the counter.
Aston Villa
1 – 1
Fenerbahçe
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
