Aston Villa vs Juventus live updates: Champions League predictions ...

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USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie has been left out of Juventus’ squad for this one.

The former Leeds United man joins Dusan Vlahovic, Arkadiusz Milik and Arthur Melo in missing the trip to Villa Park, though McKennie’s American team-mate Timothy Weah has been included as one of four forwards.

There will be no Villa reunion for Douglas Luiz, who spent five years with the Premier League club before joining Juventus last summer. The Brazil international has missed Juventus’ past five Serie A games through injury and has not recovered in time to face his former side.

Meanwhile, defender Juan Cabal is set for an extended period on the sidelines after having an operation to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. He sustained the injury in training for Colombia and underwent successful surgery on Tuesday.

GO FURTHER

USMNT’s Weston McKennie out of Juventus squad for Aston Villa trip, Tim Weah included

Unai Emery has confirmed Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara are available for Aston Villa for today's game.

Konsa (hip) and Kamara (hamstring) missed Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace due to injuries but both are back in training this week.

Elsewhere, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana are unavailable.

The Athletic reported earlier this month that Ramsey is expected to be out for a few weeks with a hamstring issue, while Onana sustained a foot injury on international duty with Belgium.

GO FURTHER

Ezri Konsa, Boubacar Kamara set for Aston Villa returns against Juventus

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery often takes trips home to Spain during an international break, allowing a couple of days of rest and an opportunity to refresh.

But four days after Villa’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield, a fourth consecutive loss before Saturday's draw with Crystal Palace, Emery was pictured at Bodymoor Heath, clipboard in hand, back in training.

Sources — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships — describe the recent work undertaken over the last 10 days as “huge” as Emery resolves to arrest the acute decline in form.

Read more about what he is doing below.

GO FURTHER

Unai Emery doubling down on his workload to reverse Aston Villa’s drop in form

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Juventus also played on Saturday, their most recent match ending in a 0-0 draw with Milan at the San Siro.

In a game which saw defence dominate attack, Thiago Motta's side failed to fire, with only two shots on target as midfielders Weston McKennie and Teun Koopmeiners were used as auxiliary forwards.

The result leaves them sixth in Serie A, though they are only four points off Serie A leaders Napoli.

Aston Villa's mediocre form continued in the Premier League on Saturday.

After four successive losses across all competitions, Villa welcomed struggling Crystal Palace but conceded inside five minutes via Ismaila Sarr's goal.

Ollie Watkins equalised and Youri Tielemans had the chance to score from the penalty spot but Dean Henderson saved and Palace academy player Justin Devenny went up the other end and curled home to make it 2-1.

Eventually, Ross Barkley's late header from a corner gave both teams a share of the spoils, but Villa's winless run extended to six games.

The second half of the Champions League’s league stage began yesterday, and after four games, the league table had started to take shape.

Though much could yet change, halfway through the group stage seemed like an opportune moment to measure how teams have done in relation to expectations.

Below, The Athletic's Anantaajith Raghuraman examines the teams who have overperformed, underperformed, and those who have played in line with expectations, using our projections (powered by Opta).

GO FURTHER

Champions League Projections: Who has performed above or below expectation at the halfway point?

Aston Villa have made a strong start to life in the Champions League with three wins from their four games, a tally that has them in a strong position to secure automatic qualification for the knockouts.

Juventus have picked up seven points from their four matches and are also in the top half of the table, despite having a game in hand on several of the teams above them.

Liverpool — who face Real Madrid at Anfield later — are the only team with a 100 per cent record in this season's Champions League.

There are nine matches to close out the Champions League's fifth matchweek:

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Villa Park, Birmingham

Located in the Aston area of England's 'second city', Villa Park opened back in 1897.

Today its capacity is 42,918, which is perhaps on the small side in Champions League terms, but it one of those old-school British grounds that can produce a proper atmosphere.

And will again later, too, I expect...

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening (depending on where you are in the world) and welcome to The Athletic.

On the menu tonight: a tantalising Champions League smorgasbord and two blogs for you to choose from.

One covering Liverpool vs Real Madrid, and this one, covering Aston Villa vs Juventus.

Let's get into it!