Aston Villa vs. Viking: Confirmed Lineups as Emery's Team Continues Strong Form

Aston Villa hosts Viking in the Champions League, seeking to extend their winning streak.

Following a 6-0 victory over Fenerbahce and a 1-0 win against Newcastle United, Villa aims for their third consecutive win across all competitions.

They face a Viking side that has already proven formidable, drawing 3-3 with Bayern Munich in their last league phase match.

Aston Villa Team News

Unai Emery makes four changes from the starting lineup that faced Newcastle United.

Pau Torres, John McGinn, Ross Barkley, and Ibrahim Mbaye enter the starting XI. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, and Johan Manzambi are out.

Wan-Bissaka and Manzambi are injured. Wan-Bissaka's absence means either Joao Gomes or McGinn will play as a makeshift right-back.

Aston Villa XI: Suzuki; Gomes, Lindelof, Torres, Mings; McGinn, Barkley; Alysson, Buendia, Mbaye; Jackson.

Aston Villa Substitutes: Bizot, Wright, Cash, Harwood-Bellis, Kamara, Garnacho, Abraham, Maatsen, Bogarde, Goretzka, Hemmings.

Viking Team News

Viking's starting XI also includes four changes from their recent win over Fredrikstad.

Herman Haugen starts at right-back, and Jesper Daland joins the center of defense.

Kristoffer Askildsen is in the midfield, with captain Zlatko Tripic operating from the left wing.

Vetle Auklend, Henrik Falchener, Simen Kvia-Egeskog, and Niklas Fuglestad are on the bench.

Viking XI: Ostbo; H. Haugen, Stensness, Daland, Heggheim; Askildsen, Bell, Moi; Christiansen, Botheim, Tripic.

Viking Substitutes: Belko, Vevatne, Postema, Bjordal, Bassey, Cosic, Fuglestad, Auklend, Falchener, Kvia-Egeskog, K. Haugen, Jansen.

Match Details

Aston Villa versus Viking kicks off at 8 PM BST on Wednesday, October 21, at Villa Park.

Statistics

• This marks the first encounter between these two clubs.
• Viking's prior matches against English teams were in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup first round, where they lost 2-1 at Chelsea and won 4-2 at home, progressing 5-4 on aggregate.
• Villa has won both their previous matches against Norwegian opposition, defeating Strømsgodset in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round (3-2 at home, 3-0 away).
• This is Villa's second Champions League campaign. They reached the quarter-finals on their debut in 2024/25, losing 4-5 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.
• Unai Emery's team won the Europa League in 2025/26, finishing second in the league phase before defeating Lille (3-0 aggregate), Bologna (7-1), and Nottingham Forest (4-1) to reach the final, where they beat Freiburg 3-0.
• Villa lost 2-1 to Paris in the UEFA Super Cup on August 12.
• This is Viking's first Champions League appearance since 1992/93, when they were eliminated 1-0 on aggregate by Barcelona in the first round.
• Viking has reached a European group stage or league phase once, finishing fourth in a five-team section of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup.