Aston Villa’s pre-season tour of the United States starts in Ohio’s state capital as Unai Emery’s team takes on MLS side Columbus Crew.
Villa is gearing up for an exciting season after finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 1992.
The club has been active in the transfer market, signing players like Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana, but has also lost Douglas Luiz to Juventus.
Villa has started the summer with 3-0 friendly wins over Walsall and Spartak Trnava. The match against Columbus Crew is the first of three friendlies in the US before their Premier League opener against West Ham on August 17.
Columbus Crew is having a strong MLS season, currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference.
Here is 90min’s guide to Aston Villa’s upcoming pre-season friendly.
Columbus Crew vs Aston Villa H2H record (All Time)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Columbus Crew |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
|
Atlanta Utd 2-1 Columbus Crew – 21/07/24 |
Spartak Trnava 0-3 Aston Villa – 20/07/24 |
|
Columbus Crew 1-1 Charlotte FC – 18/07/24 |
Walsall 0-3 Aston Villa – 17/07/24 |
|
LAFC 1-5 Columbus Crew – 14/07/24 |
Crystal Palace 5-0 Aston Villa – 19/05/24 |
|
Columbus Crew 4-0 Toronto – 07/07/24 |
Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool – 13/05/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel / live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Villa TV (subscription required) |
|
United States |
Villa TV (subscription required) |
|
Canada |
Villa TV (subscription required) |
Columbus may not field their strongest team for the friendly, but they will aim to give a good performance against Villa.
The hosts will be missing Evan Bush due to injury, but he is expected to return for the MLS restart in August.
Columbus Crew predicted lineup (3-4-2-1): Hagen; Moreira, Camacho, Cheberko; Farsi, Zawadzki, Matan, Arfsten; Rossi, Ramirez; Hernandez.
Almost all players are available for Villa’s tour, except for Ollie Watkins who is still on international duty. Youri Tielemans, who played in Euro 2024, is ready for Saturday’s game.
New signings Onana and Maatsen could feature, and Emiliano Buendia, who missed the previous season due to injury, is also part of the squad.
Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, and Kortney Hause will not be playing.
Aston Villa predicted lineup (4-2-2-2): Olsen; Cash, Carlos, Torres, Maatsen; Barrenechea, Dendoncker; McGinn, Bailey; Dobbin, Archer.
Villa has shown good form in pre-season and is well-prepared for their US tour.
However, facing Columbus, a strong MLS team, will be a tougher challenge compared to their previous opponents.
Emery is likely to rotate his squad against Columbus, promising an entertaining match on Saturday night.