BOLOGNA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 20: Santiago Castro of Bologna FC celebrates after scoring the 1-1 goal during the Serie A match between Bologna FC 1909 and Genoa CFC at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium on September 20, 2025 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Santiago Castro and Federico Bernardeschi start for Bologna in their Europa League opener away to Donyell Malen’s Aston Villa.
It kicks off at Villa Park at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.
These teams met here last season in the Champions League, with Aston Villa emerging 2-0 winners.
A lot has changed for both sides since then, and they are still trying to get to grips with their new figures.
Bologna started the campaign with a pair of 1-0 defeats away to Roma and Milan, winning both home matches against Como and Genoa.
Ciro Immobile, Tommaso Pobega, Nicolò Casale and Ibrahim Sulemana are still out of action, while Benjamin Dominguez and Lorenzo De Silvestri are not on the UEFA list.
There are quite a few surprises in the starting XI, with no room for Giovanni Fabbian, Riccardo Orsolini or Jonathan Rowe.
Aston Villa are still looking for their first victory of the campaign, managing only three draws and two defeats in the Premier League, plus an exit on penalties to Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
Ross Barkley is not on the UEFA list, while Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana are not fully fit.
The star signing was Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, who turned down a move to Roma instead, but he is only on the bench along with Harvey Elliott and Ollie Watkins.
Netherlands international Donyell Malen instead leads the line.
Argentina’s unpredictable World Cup winning goalkeeper Dibu Martinez is not even on the bench.
The match will be shown live on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and Discovery+ in the UK and Ireland and on DAZN in the USA and Canada.
Aston Villa vs. Bologna line-ups
Aston Villa: Bizot;Â Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Maatsen;Â McGinn, Kamara;Â Guessand, Rogers, Buendia; Malen
Aston Villa bench: Proctor, Oakley, Lindelof, Mings, Elliott, Watkins, Digne, Andres Garcia, Sancho, Bogarde, Burrowes
Bologna: Skorupski; Zortea, Vitik, Lucumi, Lykogiannis;Â Ferguson, Freuler; Odgaard, Bernardeschi, Cambiaghi; Castro
Bologna bench: Ravaglia, Pessina, Holm, Moro, Orsolini, Rowe, Heggem, Dallinga, Miranda, Fabbian
Ref: Gil Manzano (ESP)
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