Preview: Aston Villa vs Roma - prediction, team news, lineups

Following on from an unbeaten U.S. tour, Aston Villa will continue pre-season preparations on Wednesday, when they meet Italian giants Roma in Walsall.

With Villa Park undergoing maintenance ahead of the upcoming campaign, Villa must make a short trip to Bescot Stadium, where the Giallorossi begin their brief visit to England.

Match preview

Wrapping up a short summer tour of the United States, Aston Villa had to settle for an entertaining draw with MLS high-flyers Nashville on Saturday, as the Premier League side let a two-goal lead slip in Tennessee.

Having secured their first win of pre-season by beating St Louis City a few days earlier, the Villans were cruising to victory at Geodis Park, as Donyell Malen scored after Ollie Watkins found the target for a third straight game.

However, Unai Emery's men leaked two late goals, meaning they have both lost and drawn twice across five warm-ups so far: having started with defeats to Walsall and Hansa Rostock, they then drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt.

After starting pre-season with a young team, Emery has since welcomed back all of his established regulars, despite speculation surrounding the future of Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Martinez.

As the new campaign draws nearer, all three are still in Villa's squad, and last season's sixth-placed finishers are honing in on a Premier League opener at home to Newcastle United.

Taking another step closer to their competitive return, the Birmingham club will play Roma in midweek, before visiting Marseille and Villarreal - then, the real action begins.

While Aston Villa ended up settling for sixth spot in England, Roma finally broke their run of occupying that position in Serie A last term, following a remarkable revival.

After a chaotic opening to the 2024-25 season, which saw both Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric relieved of their duties before Christmas, club legend Claudio Ranieri returned to steady the ship and led his boyhood team up the standings.

Though they narrowly failed to claim Champions League qualification despite beating Torino on the final matchday, Roma could still reflect on a superb 19-game unbeaten streak and a tally of 11 league clean sheets in the calendar year.

Not for the first time, Ranieri then brought the curtain down on his illustrious coaching career, handing over to Atalanta BC's long-serving Europa League winner Gian Piero Gasperini.

During pre-season, the Giallorossi have followed a 9-0 thrashing of Serie D side UniPomezia - featuring a 24-minute hat-trick from new boy Evan Ferguson - with three more wins, all without conceding.

First, Gasp's men beat Kaiserslautern, then French sides Cannes and Lens; now, they must face Villa and Everton before kicking off their top-flight campaign at home to Bologna on August 23.

Aston Villa pre-season form: L L D W D

Roma pre-season form: W W W W

Team News

Despite being linked with a move away, Martinez is still Aston Villa's number one, and the Argentina star is set to start again after making consecutive appearances in the USA.

Unai Emery should name a strong XI, but some rotation will be required to give more minutes to fringe players and promising youngsters such as Triston Rowe and Jamaldeen Jimoh.

Ross Barkley and Andres Garcia have been sidelined by injury, while Alex Moreno, Lewis Dobbin and Leander Dendoncker are all set to depart; new signing Yasin Ozcan has already left on loan.

Meanwhile, Roma are expected to line up in Gasperini's familiar 3-4-2-1 formation, with either Evan Ferguson or Artem Dovbyk spearheading their attack; Paulo Dybala is still short of fitness.

Young centre-back Daniele Ghilardi signed from Hellas Verona last week, joining fellow summer arrivals Wesley, Devis Vasquez and Neil El Aynaoui in the Giallorossi's squad.

Though Evan N'Dicka was forced off by a thigh strain against Lens - and Matias Soule suffered a slight ankle sprain - both should recover in time to play at the Bescot.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Kamara, Tielemans; Malen, McGinn, Rogers; Watkins

Roma possible starting lineup: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka; Wesley, Kone, El Aynaoui, Angelino; Soule, Baldanzi; Ferguson

We say: Aston Villa 1-1 Roma

So far in pre-season, Aston Villa have steadily built match-fitness without producing positive results, and they may be held to another draw in perhaps their toughest test yet.

Without conceding a single goal, Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma have strolled through their warm-up games to this point, so they will be full of confidence.

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