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Tuesday night sees FC Barcelona welcoming Aston Villa to the Camp Nou, for a Champions League matchup that looks pretty riveting; at least on paper. Unai Emery’s men sit second in the UCL table, and they’ll be looking to get back in the win column after yesterday’s result, which was uninspiring, to say the least. The Villans played lower table Fulham to a score draw, an end result that must feel like a loss for them.
As for Barcelona, they thrashed Alaves, 6-1 on Saturday, so they will likely be feeling pretty good right now.
unai emery
unai emery
UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 of 8
Kickoff: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 8pm
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
UCL Standing, Form: Aston Villa 2nd, 9 pts WWW FC Barcelona 8th, 6 pts, WWL
Result Probability, According to Google: Aston Villa win 10% Draw 12% FC Barcelona win 8%
new-camp-nou
Team News for Both Sides
And we say the Blaugranes will be feeling pretty good, but not great, due to their team fitness situation. They still have an injury crisis to contend with in the back line. Hansi Flick does not expect to see any of the following players return: Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé, Eric García or Xavi Espart. Dani Olmo and Rooney Bardghji remain sidelined as well.
In other words, the team news situation is the same as it was entering the weekend.
The same goes for Villa, who will once again be without the services of Matteo Ruggeri, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Amadou Onana. Neither team suffered any new injury concerns on Halloween.
raphinha
Predicted XIs for Both Sides
Barcelona
Joan Garcia; Joao Cancelo, Gerard Martin, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Pedri, Rodri; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Anthony Gordon; Raphinha
Aston Villa
john mcginn
john mcginn
Zion Suzuki; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, Joao Gomes; John McGinn, Johan Manzambi, Emiliano Buendia; Nicolas Jackson
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor ofThe 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, Ratings 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 and the Washington Post.