Unai Emery
Unai Emery takes his Villa side to Barcelona on Tuesday(Image: Getty Images)
Aston Villa’s perfect Champions League start will be given its most severe examination so far in Tuesday evening’s clash with Barcelona.
Unai Emery’s men travel to Catalonia off the back of three successive wins in Europe - Viking, Fenerbahce and Club Brugge all having been downed so far.
Villa, however, come into the game off the back of a somewhat tricky week, having been ousted from the Carabao Cup by Bournemouth. They were then held by Fulham over the weekend, with Zion Suzuki’s own-goal seeing a share of the points after Nicolas Jackson had opened the scoring.
Villa then will be keen to get back on track against Barcelona. And fortunately, boss Emery appears to have a near fully-fit squad to choose from for the trip to Spain.
Get YOUR Aston Villa Newsletter
Get the best Villa news, updates and analysis from John Townley and more, straight to your Inbox!
To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:
Head THIS WAY
Enter your email and hit Subscribe.
Long-term absentee Amadou Onana remains restricted to the sidelines with his knee injury, while defender Matteo Ruggeri is still struggling with a thigh issue and is expected to be ruled out until at least December.
Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka picked up his own issue last month and has missed the last four games in all competitions and looks highly likely to remain ruled out for the clash with Barcelona.
On the topic of the Spanish side, they have a number of problems to deal with before they welcome Villa. Youngster Roony Bardghji sustained a cruciate ligament injury in August and is expected to miss the remainder of the campaign.
Meanwhile, attacking midfielder Dani Olmo is expected to be sidelined for around a month with an adductor injury.
Hansi Flick
Hansi Flick has a defensive headache to deal with(Image: Getty Images)
It’s in defence where Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has the most serious headache though. Eric Garcia has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since mid-October and while the former Manchester City man is edging towards full fitness, Tuesday evening’s game might come too soon.
The same could also be said for French centre-back Jules Kounde, who has been dealing with an ankle sprain. The defensive issues don’t end there.
Ex-Chelsea man Andreas Christensen has also been out for a couple of weeks with a muscular injury and while he too is closing in on a return, Flick may choose not to risk the defender.
Xavi Espart also looks likely to be ruled out until at least mid-December with an ankle injury, meaning four defenders in all could be out of contention.
Make sure you never miss the latest Aston Villa news and opinion by making Birmingham Live one of your Google preferred sources.
How to follow our Aston Villa coverage
John Townley
John Townley
You can follow our dedicated reporter John Townley on X by clicking here - he follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox.
You'll also get competition offers and stories around discounts on Villa merchandise.
Sign up to the Villa newsletter here.
WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here.
Social: We have a Facebook page waiting for you with daily updates, some of which we don't post anywhere else - click here
You can also folllow our Villa updates on X - here
Podcast: Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.
Midlands Football editor Steve Wollaston said: "We pride ourselves on covering all the topics of interest to Villa fans, from tactics and team news to kit launches and transfer rumours. Signing up for our newsletter means you won't miss anything that's happening at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath."
Our Villa newsletter is already a huge success, so don't miss out - just sign up today and you will automatically receive all the headline news straight to your phone, tablet or computer.