Aston Villa's Champions League minimum and transfer talk as rivals suffer big blow

Aston Villa will look to maintain their perfect start in the Champions League on Wednesday night when Unai Emery's side take on Club Brugge in Belgium.

After beating BSC Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna, Villa are top of the league phase table, with Liverpool the only other team who who have also won their first three fixtures. Brugge, meanwhile, lost at home to Borussia Dortmund on matchweek one and then beat Sturm Graz, before tasting defeat at AC Milan two weeks ago.

Nicky Hayen's side come into the match on the back of three straight victories, while they have only lost one of their last matches in all competitions, which came at the San Siro. Villa are in need of a positive result - ahead of travelling to Anfield on Saturday - after failing to win in their last three and losing 4-1 to Tottenham last time out.

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TOP EIGHT POINTS TARGET

Villa still have five league phase fixtures left to play, so plenty of points are up for grabs for all teams. Finishing in the top eight of the league phase table guarantees a place in the round of 16 draw, which will take place on February 21, and also includes the quarter-final and semi-final match-ups.

The question on everyone's mind is how many points will it take to finish in the top eight? Before this season's Champions League campaign got underway, the Opta supercomputer crunched the data to get a probability for the number of points needed to finish in the top eight, and to finish in the top 24.

In 98 per cent of simulations, 16 points was enough to finish in the top eight, meaning five wins and a draw or four wins and four draws are likely to guarantee progress to the first knockout round. Fifteen points was sufficient for eighth place in 73 per cent of simulations (or five wins), while 14 points was enough in just 28 per cent of the supercomputer’s simulations.

So with 16 points said to be a safe number of points to target to skip a knockout play-off, Villa aren't far away from that tally already, just two more wins and a draw needed in fact. A home match against Celtic in January is a brilliant opportunity to get a victory, while facing Brugge on Wednesday is also a big chance for points considering they have conceded three goals in two of their first three Champions League games.

This is the first edition of the new Champions League format, so nobody really knows how many points would secure a top eight finish, but certainly three more wins out of the next five would give Villa a fantastic chance.

Trips to RB Leipzig and AS Monaco will be tough, but if Villa can maintain their 100 per cent against Brugge, then that home clash against Juventus to follow will be massive.

YORKE: VILLA WILL DEFY ODDS

Former Villa striker Dwight Yorke has backed Unai Emery's side to continue defying the odds in the Champions League and go far in the competition after their perfect start.

"Unai Emery is making the Champions League look easy," Yorke told SafestCasinoSites.co.uk. "He has taken Villa to a completely new level. Everybody thought they might struggle in Europe because they haven't had any experience in the tournament, but I think the manager brings that energy to them and gives them that experience.

"Emery’s been a winner in Europe, maybe not quite at the Champions League level, but he certainly has that experience of winning, which is important for a team.

"They're playing great football. Everyone expected them to lose against Bayern and those types of teams, but they come up against them and they continue to defy the odds. Emery continues to instil great ideas into these players. They're all buying into what he's doing. Everything just seems to click.

"When people expect them to fail, they continue to excel, and I think that's a great compliment to the manager. His players keep doing it for him. I keep calling his name and singing his praises because he's doing a job beyond what anybody would have even imagined. People expected him to take Villa in the top six, but he continued to defy the odds. Here he is on top of the league in the Champions League.

"He's fourth in the league, and he has consistently set that standard. When people expect him to falter, particularly in the Champions League, he hasn't. He deserves enormous credit.

Yorke also claims Jhon Duran - who scored against Bayern and Bologna - deserves the same level of plaudits Chelsea's Cole Palmer has received at the start of this season.

"Everyone is saying Cole Palmer, and rightly so, because he’s been fantastic and I do think that with Palmer, he’s very much the media’s favourite flavour at the moment," Yorke added. "He’s at the top of his game, but I also want to give a nod to Jhon Duran at Aston Villa.

"I think he’s been spectacular this season. If you’re talking about impact, if you’re talking about important goals, then he’s been just as good as Cole Palmer and should be getting the same level of plaudits in my opinion.

CLARET & BLUE CATCH-UP

CLUB BRUGGE TEAM NEWS

Brugge manager Hayen will give a team news update later today ahead of facing Villa, but he could be without several players through either injury or suspension.

Full-back Joaquin Seys missed their win over OH Leuven the weekend through injury. He had featured in all of their league and Champions League matches before picking up a knock last week.

Midfielder Hugo Vetlesen also missed last weekend's match with a minor injury, while striker Gustaf Nilsson has been out since the start of last month with an Achilles tendon problem.

The big blow for Brugge is that holding midfielder Raphael Onyedika will be suspended for Wednesday's match because he picked up his third booking in the competition. If Jhon Duran is cautioned against Brugge then he would miss the match against Juventus after already picking up two yellow cards in the competition.

SCHOLES HAILS VILLA BUSINESS

Paul Scholes has praised Villa for not only bolstering Emery's squad over the summer, but also adding quality additions as well. Villa faced challenges over the summer due to the Premier League's and UEFA's financial rules, but Monchi and Damian Vidagany worked hard to give Emery the best squad possible considering the restrictions.

“I think he (Emery) made an effort in the summer to really strengthen his squad and I think he has done that,” said Scholes on Premier League Productions.

"I think he has done that. I think Tielemans is a really good player. I also like Jacob Ramsey. He has had a couple of injuries. But I think there is more to come from him.

“I think there are a lot of goals from midfield. Morgan Rogers, you can argue, has been the signing of the season, so far he looks a top draw player as well.

"Building that squad was big. When you are playing midweek and weekends as well. You have to have the big squads. It’s okay just bringing numbers in, but you also have to bring quality in and he has managed to do that.”

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