Emery attacking his fifth European trophy

From being the team that, back in April, had mighty Paris Saint-Germain on the ropes in the return leg of the Champions League quarterfinal, Aston Villa has now dropped to 18th place in the Premier League this season. Of course, it’s still the beginning, but already the Basque coach on the Birmingham bench, Unai Emery, has a headache. The team that for two years played an important role in the Premier League, finished sixth last season, reached the last eight in Europe, and played free-flowing, attack-minded football, has now scored just one goal in the first 450 minutes of the new season — that lone strike coming last weekend in Sunderland (1–1). It was Matty Cash who broke the 427-minute goalless drought in the Premier League.

The key duo of Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers remain, but they just can’t get going. Marcus Rashford’s spell at Villa was brief, and as his replacement was another Manchester United “fallen star,” Jadon Sancho. Despite the dreadful start, bookmakers still rate Villa highly. Unai Emery’s team is the leading favorite for the Europa League title, and if somebody can do it, it’s the Spaniard. If the former Arsenal boss does it, it will be his fifth Europa League title.

But before he conquers Europe, Unai has to get his team going, and he has to do it fast. So far the Villains recorded the worst league start in 28 years and the first casualty was sporting director Monchi, who left the club before the end of his three year contract. In the June transfer window, Villa were hamstrung by UEFA spending rules that meant they were able to make only two permanent signings – Evann Guessand, Marco Bizot and free agent Victor Lindelof – at a cost of about 30 million pounds. This is the worst period under Emery, both in form and current mood and he needs to find the way out soon. Bologna tonight is the first opportunity.

BETTING GUIDE: Aston Villa vs Bologna, Match Preview, Team News and Betting Tips

Villa changed Monchi with another Spaniard - former Real Sociedad football director Roberto Olabe who was admired by Arsenal and who is a close friend of Emery. Monchi had to pay the price for the poor transfer window, but the odd thing about it is that, unlike in Sevilla, Monchi didn’t have all the power in the club. In fact his job was to get the players, but ultimately Unai had the last word. So, changing Monchi with Olabe won’t do much as long as the former Arsenal boss is still in charge. And he is. On top of that, Villa are under restrictions from UEFA over heavy speding over the last couple of years and that is the main reason for the poor transfer window, as Monchi’s hands were tied. As per Athletic, as part of UEFA’s Squad Cost Rules (SCR), Villa had to lower their wage-to-revenue ratio to 70 per cent or lower this June, down from the mid-80s at the end of last season. They were also mindful of UEFA’s Football Earnings Rule (FER), which states clubs can lose no more than 51.6 million pounds over that period. The Athletic projected that Villa are still operating above the 70 per cent SCR limit and will be at risk of incurring a fine this season. So, Monchi paid the price for something he is not guilty, at least not only him. But Unai remains and will have to cope with the players he got, starting tonight against Bologna.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 1

Wednesday

Midtjylland - Sturm 2-0 (1-0)

/Christensen 8(og), Diao 88/

PAOK - Maccabi T.A. 0-0

Betis - Nottingham Forest 2-2 (1-2)

/Bakambu 15, Antony 85 - Jesus 18, 23/

Braga - Feyenoord 1-0 (0-0)

/Navarro 79/

Crvena Zvezda - Celtic 1-1 (0-0)

/Arnatuovic 65 - Iheanacho 55/

Dinamo Zagreb - Fenerbahce 3-1 (1-1)

/Beljo 21, 50, Bakrar 90+5 - Szymanski 25/

Freiburg - Basel 2-1 (1-0)

/Ostergahe 31, Eggstein 57 - Otele 84/

Malmo - Ludogorets 1-2 (1-2)

/Johnsen 78 - Stanic 8, Bile 23/

Nice - Roma 1-2 (0-0)

/Moffi 77(p) - Ndicka 52, Mancini 55/

Thursday

19.45: (2.05) Go Ahead Eagles (3.50) FCSB (3.50)

19.45: (1.47) Lille (4.40) Brann (6.75)

22.00: (1.85) Aston Villa (3.50) Bologna (4.40)

22.00: (2.55) Ferencvaros (3.30) Plzen (2.80)

22.00: (2.45) Rangers (3.40) Genk (2.85)

22.00: (3.60) Salzburg (3.45) Porto (2.05)

22.00: (1.95) Stuttgart (3.50) Celta (3.90)

22.00: (3.25) Utrecht (3.45) Olympique Lyon (2.20)

22.00: (2.30) Young Boys (3.40) Panathinaikos (3.10)

***odds are subject to change***