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Bologna have a player called Heggem, more than enough excuse to remember this forgotten banger, scored for Liverpool by his namesake on Boxing Day 1998.
Back to our teams, Emery leaves out Martinez, Mings, Digne and Watkins; in come Bizot, Pau Torres, Maatsen and Malen.
Bologna, meanwhile, 11th in Serie A after beating Genoa 2-1 at the weekend, replace De Silvestri, Heggem, Miranda, Moro, Dominguez, and Orsolini with Zoertea, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Ferguson, Odgaard and Cambiaghi.
Email! “I know that it’s a well-worn old chuckler, but hey ho,” begins Charles Antaki. “It still raises a smile when you see Go Ahead Eagles go behind.”
Teams!
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Maatsen; Guessand, Kamara, McGinn, Rogers; Buendia, Malen. Subs: Proctor, Oakley, Lindelöf, Mings, Elliott, Watkins, Digne, Andrès García, Sancho, Bogarde, Burrowes.
Bologna (4-3-3): Skorupski; Zoertea, Vitik, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Ferguson, Freuler, Odgaard; Bernadeschi, Castro, Cambiaghi. Subs: Ravaglia, Pessina, Holk, Moro, Orsolini, Rowe, Heggem, Dallinga, Miranda, Fabbian.
**
Rangers (4-3-3): Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Cornelius, Meghoma; Diomande, Raskin; Moore; Aasgaard, Gassama, Chermiti. Subs: Kelly, Wright, Rothwell, Barron, Antman, Djiga, Miovski, Gentles, Danilo, Rice, Curtis, McCallion.
Genk (5-3-2): Van Crombrugge; El Ouhadi, Sets, Sadick, Kayembe, Medina; Hrosovsky, Bangoura, Heynen; Sreuckers; Oh. Subs: Mounganga, Ito, Karetsas, Bibout, Sattleberger, Nkuba, Mirisola, Yokoyama, Adedeji-Sternberg, Palacios, Kongolo, Erabi.
Latest scores: Go Ahead Eagles 0-1 Steaua Bucharest; Lille 1-0 Brann.
Preamble
For the first time since arriving at Aston Villa in 2022, Unai Emery finds himself under pressure. At the end of last season, his players were guilty of a complete no-show in their last game, against a Manchester United side that had just lost the Europa League final, which cost them a Champions League spot, and they’ve started this in similar vein, sitting third-bottom of the table and playing so badly their manager has already accused them of being lazy.
As such, today’s match with Bologna – whom Villa beat 2-0 in last season’s premier competition – is more important than it seems. After receiving such public and stinging criticism, if they cannot rouse themselves to deliver a performance tonight, then what?
Life at Villa Park, though, sounds like a joy relative to goings-on at Ibrox. Though Rangers managed their first win in six against Hibs last weekend, Russell Martin is still in a pickle – one that can only be resolved with a succession of good results and performances. In the meantime, any defeat could mean the end with tonight’s match with Genk the latest test of his survival instinct.
Add to that a selection of other matches, and we’ve a decent evening’s rubber-necking in prospect.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
