Everything you need to know about Aston Villa’s final pre-season against Borussia Dortmund, including how to watch, team news and more.
It’s a week today until Aston Villa kick off their Premier League campaign with a trip to West Ham. The Villans finished fourth last term and Unai Emery will be eager to emulate that success while competing in the Champions League.
Villa’s form in pre-season has been chequered, suffering three defeats on their tour of the USA against Columbus Crew, Club America and RB Leipzig while beating Walsall, Spartak Trnava and most recently, Athletic Bilbao.
Following that win over Bilbao, Emery will call for his players to build much-needed momentum ahead of their curtain raiser at the London Stadium.
For many, such as Kosta Nedeljkovic, Morgan Rogers and Lamare Bogarde, a final friendly against Dortmund represents an opportunity to impress against Champions League opposition.
Below is all the key information about Villa’s game against Club America.
How to watch Borussia Dortmund vs Aston Villa
Fans will be able to watch Dortmund vs Aston Villa via VillaTV+ if they are unable to attend the game. Subscription for a year costs £24.99 but season ticket holders will already have access to the steaming platform.
The livestream will offer exclusive access and coverage like never before. Kick-off for the match is at 4 pm on Saturday with the game being played at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany.
Watkins, Martinez and Konsa return for Aston Villa
While Emery is still missing Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings continues his comeback from an ACL injury, the Spaniard will welcome his key first-team trio back into the squad.
Ollie Watkins, Emi Martinez and Ezri Konsa were all involved in finals for their countries last month, as while England were defeated by Spain, Argentina and Martinez celebrated a Copa America victory against Colombia.
Fresh from their extended break, the trio will be eager to impress against Dortmund and work their way back to full match sharpness.
In the absence of Martinez, Joe Gauci has assumed responsibility between the sticks while Konsa and Watkins being missing has given multiple players chances, including defender Lamare Bogarde and striker Cameron Archer, who scored in the win over Bilbao.
It’s undoubtedly a huge boost having three of their most important players return, as it now feels like Emery can name his strongest XI against the German outfit, perhaps the one that will take to the field against West Ham.
