Aston Villa vs. Juventus: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Aston Villa face a huge game in the Champions League this week as they take on Italian giants Juventus.

• Date: 27/11/2024
• Kick-off time: 20:00
• Location: Villa Park, Birmingham

Aston Villa currently sit 8th in the Champions League with nine points from four games. Overall, it's been a fine start to the Champions League season for Villa who look like they have a very good chance of securing a playoff spot at least. A win over Bayern Munich at Villa Park was hostoric moment for Villa and a real signifier of the club's progression under Unai Emery, while wins over Young Boys and Bologna were very professional performances.

Villa look to be in a similar position to Newcastle were last season, where after a surprise top four finish they're having trouble navigating both the Premier League and the Champions League simutaneously and are suffering an increase in injuries as a result. They've still started the season pretty well, but as they sit in 8th place in the Premier League after 12 games, it feels like there are clear signs that they're finding playing two of the world's most demanding competitions at the same time a real challenge.

Villa's position in the Champions League table is fairly secure, but after losing to Club Brugge last time out, it's going to be tough for them to ultimately secure automtic progression to the knockout stages. Villa likely need 3-5 points from their remaining games to secure a playoff spot, and their remaining games are against Juventus, RB Leipzig (A), Monaco (A) and Celtic (H), none of which are easy. Still, they should be able to get the required points to meet that toal, even if their form is not at its best.

Having already beaten Bayern Munich, the Villa Park crowd will be very confident of another giant killing here but the team comes into this one in a much more fragile state than it was when the Bavarians visitied Birmingham.

Juventus are currently 11th in the Champions league with seven points from four games. The Old Lady have had a mixed start to this season's Champions League, which has largely epitomised their start to the season entirely. There was a wholesale change at Juventus over the summer with a significant amount of turnover in the squad and the appointment of one of Italy's most promising young managers, Thiago Motta, but things haven't quite gone as swimmingly as they would have hoped.

There's still plenty of time and it's too early to judge the decisions by the Juventus board, but many of Motta's tactics are coming under intense scrutiny while several of the summer signings are finding life in Turin tough - mainly former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, who has been really struggling in a Juventus shirt. The criticism of Motta in particular feels very premature, though, with the manager needing time to implement his ideas to a team that has spent a significant period of time playing under Max Allegri.

Motta does, though, need to make sure he reaches the knockout stage of this competition to keep the pressure off his back, and a win here would go some way to achieving that. Juventus are two points shy of the automatic places and their remaining fixtures are against Villa, Manchester City (A), Club Brugge (A) and Benfica (H), so they'll feel as though there's no reason why they can't take maximum points from those games and progress to the knockout stages.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK customers on TNT Sports 2.

Aston Villa Team News:

Unai Emery comes into this game unable to call upon Jacob Ramsey and Kortney Hause, while Amadou Onana is a doubt after missing time with a knock.

Ezri Konsa is also a doubt after missing the game against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Predicted lineup: Martínez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Barkley, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.

Juventus Team News:

The visitors come into this one with a fairly lengthy injury list with Dušan Vlahović, Juan Cabal, Douglas Luiz, Nicolás González and Bremer all sidelined by injuries.

With few available options, Thiago Motta could name the same side that started the game against Milan at the weekend.

Predicted lineup: Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceição, Yıldız; Koopmeiners, McKennie.

Aston Villa are woefully out of form at present as they enter this game winless in their last five games. At the weekend, Villa were held to a 2-2 draw by a struggling Crystal Palace side where Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley grabbed the goals - with Youri Tielemans missing a penalty.

That game followed a 2-0 loss to Liverpool, a 1-0 loss to Culb Brugge, a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and a 1-2 defeat to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.

Juventus are amidst a mixed run of form as they enter this game with two wins and three draws from their last five outings. Saturday saw Juventus draw 0-0 with AC Milan at San Siro in what was a pretty dull encounter, a result that followed a 2-0 win over Torino thanks to Timothy Weah and Kenan Yıldız.

Prior to that, Juventus drew 1-1 away at Lille, with Dušan Vlahović scoring from the spot, beat Udinese 2-0 away from home and drew 2-2 at home to newly promoted Parma.

Both of these sides aren't in particularly good shape, with Villa's form having regressed notably while Juventus are struggling with key injuries. Despite Villa's dropoff in form, they've still only lost one of their last five at home and it was in the EFL Cup, while Juventus have won only one of their last four away from home.

In fact, Villa have drawn three of their last five games at Villa Park, while Juventus have drawn three of their last four games on the road, so a share of the spoils feels like a likely outcome from this encounter. Aston Villa 1-1 Juventus.

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day