4-2-3-1: How Aston Villa could line up in Champions League clash vs Club Brugge | OneFootball

Aston Villa welcome Club Brugge to Birmingham on Wednesday night, looking to finish off the Belgians and punch their ticket to the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Villans ran out 3-1 winners in the first leg, and Unai Emery will demand more of the same to keep their lofty European ambitions alive.

Villa will have one eye on a quarter-final dance with French champions Paris Saint-Germain, but they can’t afford any hint of complacency against Brugge.

How Villa could line up

Emery has little to worry about on the injury front ahead of Brugge’s visit.

The only player guaranteed to miss the tie-decider due to injury is Ross Barkley, who is still battling a calf issue.

Barkley will watch from the sidelines alongside January additions Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia, who were omitted from Emery’s squad for the knockout phase.

Emiliano Martinez missed last weekend’s 1-0 win against Brentford but has been given the green light to reclaim his spot between the sticks against Brugge.

The World Cup winner will likely be protected by a familiar backline of Axel Disasi, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, and Lucas Digne.

Pau Torres recently returned from an ankle injury, but you’d expected Emery to manage his workload, so he should start on the bench.

Youri Tielemans and John McGinn should continue their partnership at the base of midfield, but there could be a slight tweak in the attacking areas.

Marcus Rashford will likely return to the starting XI after dropping to the bench in favour of Jacob Ramsey against Brentford.

The 27-year-old will be hoping to open his goalscoring account in midweek after returning three assists from eight games.

Marco Asensio, who has scored five times in seven games for Villa, is also back in contention but could be kept out of the XI by Morgan Rogers.