PREVIEW: Aston Villa look to cement their Europa League semi final place against Bologna

Sitting eighth in the Italian top flight, Bologna have had a slightly more underwhelming season compared to the last but it will drastically improve should they manage to make the semi finals.

They had to make it to this round the hard way, finishing 10th in the league phase where they won four and drew three of their eight games.

Bologna had to beat Norwegian side Brann in the play-offs before they met fellow Italian side Roma, with a 1-1 draw followed up by a thrilling game in Rome that ended with Bologna taking a 4-3 lead to win 5-4 on aggregate.

Their journey to this point has been hard fought, and Villa should avoid any form of complacency – even with a two-goal deficit for their opponents to make up.

Villa did have a heart in the mouth moment before their match-up against Nottingham Forest when starting goalkeeper Emi Martinez withdrew from the squad in the warm-up.

He was replaced by deputy Marco Bizot, who may keep his place depending on Martinez’s fitness.

Jadon Sancho has been improving in his performances as of late but is still injured after missing the game at the City Ground, and is joined on the side line by Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings.

Meanwhile for Bologna, defender John Lucumi will miss the tie after being suspended during the first leg meanwhile Argentine forward Benjamin Dominguez will also miss the tie after failing a fitness test.

Thursday’s match up could give Villa a huge chance to prove themselves as favourites to lift the Europa League, while Bologna have a chance to potentially dent Emrey’s hopes of winning the competition for a remarkable fifth time.