After securing victories in their initial three UEFA Champions League fixtures, Aston Villa faced a sobering 1-0 loss to Club Brugge on matchday four. This defeat is part of a troubling sequence of six games without a win for Villa (D2, L4), who struggled to a 2-2 home draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday, having to come from behind twice in the match.
Overcoming European heavyweights Juventus will be a formidable challenge, but Unai Emery’s team can draw encouragement from their impressive record of seven wins in their last eight home games in major European competitions (L1). They have already triumphed over one European powerhouse at Villa Park this season with a 1-0 victory against Bayern Munich, and having won their last three home encounters against Italian teams, they may feel optimistic about defeating Juventus.
Each of those three victories was achieved without conceding a goal, and notably, Juventus was the last Italian side to find the net at Villa Park, way back in 1983! On that occasion, Juve secured a 2-1 victory, yet triumphs on English turf have been scarce for the Old Lady, having clinched only three wins from their last 15 away games against English teams in European contests (D3, L9).
Enhancing this record will undoubtedly be challenging for a squad that has managed just one win in their last seven UCL away fixtures (D2, L4). This is compounded by the fact they are once more pitted against Emery, who has previously defeated Juve while managing two separate clubs—no manager has ever conquered Juventus with three different teams in the history of this competition.
Key players to keep an eye on include Villa’s Ross Barkley, who found the net over the weekend. However, Villa might quietly wish for him not to score again, as his last seven goal-scoring appearances for clubs have not led to a win (three draws, four losses)! Competing in midfield, Weston McKennie has netted five out of his last seven club goals with headers, with four occurring before the 60-minute mark.
Interesting fact: In Villa’s last five matches against Italian teams, neither side managed to score in all games.
