Barcelona vs Aston Villa line-ups: Buendía and Gomes start as Emery makes two changes at Camp Nou

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Emi Buendía and João Gomes come into Aston Villa’s starting XI against Barcelona as Unai Emery makes two changes for the Champions League trip to Camp Nou.

Leon Goretzka and Alysson drop to the bench from the side that drew 1-1 with Fulham on Saturday. Nicolas Jackson leads the attack, while John McGinn captains Villa as they chase a fourth successive league-phase victory.

The Barcelona vs Aston Villa line-ups announcement confirms another start for Johan Manzambi, with Boubacar Kamara retained alongside Gomes. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT on Tuesday 3 November.

Aston Villa confirmed line-up against Barcelona

Aston Villa: Suzuki, Cash, Lindelöf, McGinn (captain), Kamara, Buendía, Jackson, Pau Torres, Maatsen, Gomes, Manzambi.

Substitutes: Bizot, Wright, Harwood-Bellis, Mings, Barkley, Garnacho, Abraham, Mbaye, Goretzka, Alysson, Hemmings.

Buendía gets the nod as Villa protect perfect European start

Buendía starts with an impressive European scoring run behind him. According to Villa’s official match preview, he has scored in each of his past four appearances in major European competition, the longest such sequence by a Villa player.

He was on target in the 3-1 victory over Viking last time out, when Ross Barkley also scored and a Henrik Heggheim own goal helped Villa make it three wins from three.

Barkley is among the substitutes tonight despite contributing three goals and an assist in this season’s Champions League. Emery also has Alejandro Garnacho, Ibrahim Mbaye and Tammy Abraham available if he needs to change his attack.

Gomes replaces Goretzka in midfield

Gomes is the other player brought into the starting side, with Goretzka among the replacements after starting against Fulham.

Villa retain the same goalkeeper and defensive personnel from Saturday: Zion Suzuki, Matty Cash, Victor Lindelöf, Pau Torres and Ian Maatsen. McGinn, Kamara, Manzambi and Jackson also keep their places.

The changes give Villa a fresh midfield option and bring Buendía’s European scoring form into the starting line-up. Jackson remains their focal point up front, with McGinn and Manzambi providing support.

Our Barcelona vs Aston Villa preview looks at the challenge facing Emery’s side as they put their unbeaten European start to the test.

Villa remain without three injured players

Amadou Onana, Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka remain unavailable. Villa reported no fresh injury concerns following the Fulham draw.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis is available after replacing Ruggeri in Villa’s Champions League squad and takes his place among the substitutes. Brian Madjo remains ineligible for European matches.

Barcelona missing six players for Villa visit

Barcelona’s official squad announcement confirmed that Eric García, Jules Koundé, Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Dani Olmo and Roony Bardghji are unavailable through injury.

Hansi Flick’s side are looking to respond to their defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round. Villa arrive with nine points from their opening three matches, while Barcelona have six.

What time is Barcelona vs Aston Villa?

The Champions League match kicks off at 8pm GMT on Tuesday 3 November at Spotify Camp Nou, which is 9pm local time in Barcelona.

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