Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich predictions: Villa Park clash to live up to the hype
- There have been over 3.5 goals in 16 of Aston Villa's last 26 Premier League games
- Bayern Munich have scored 21 goals in their last four games in all competitions
- Recommended bet: Over 3.5 goals at 59/50
Aston Villa made a strong start to their Champions League campaign, winning 3-0 away to Young Boys in Switzerland, but Unai Emery's men face a far tougher assignment on matchday two.
Bayern arrive at Villa Park having thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in their opening game and the German giants have won 28 of their 30 Champions League group-stage fixtures in the past five seasons.
Villa have won four of their first six Premier League matches this term, but their clean sheet against Young Boys was their only shutout of the campaign so far and that is a concern ahead of their clash with free-scoring Bayern.
Team news
Aston Villa are missing injured midfielders John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara, as well as centre-back Tyrone Mings. Full-back Matty Cash will be assessed.
Bayern are waiting to discover the extent of the ankle injury suffered by England captain Harry Kane in Saturday's draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Josip Stanisic, Hiroki Ito and Sacha Boey are sidelined.
The stats
Three of Aston Villa's last six wins were by a 2-1 scoreline and they have kept only one clean sheet in eight matches in all competitions this season.
There have been over 3.5 goals in 16 of Villa's last 26 Premier League games.
Bayern have won 29 of their last 31 Champions League group or league-stage matches.
Bayern have scored 21 goals in their last four games in all competitions and have won their four away matches so far this season by an aggregate score of 18-3.
Prediction
Aston Villa's defensive vulnerability was exposed in Sunday's 2-2 Premier League draw at promoted Ipswich and 16 of their last 26 top-flight matches have produced over 3.5 goals.
Villa undoubtedly pose a goal threat through England striker Ollie Watkins and impressive youngster Morgan Rogers but they have kept only one clean sheet in eight matches this term.
Bayern striker Kane, who scored four of their nine goals against Dinamo Zagreb on matchday one, is a doubt after coming off during Saturday's 1-1 home draw with German champions Leverkusen.
Despite dropping points, Bayern boss Vincent Kompany must have been pleased with the performance of his side, who hit the woodwork twice through Serge Gnabry and restricted Leverkusen to just three shots at goal.
Even if Kane is not fit to start, Bayern can unleash a front four of Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise, who starred for Crystal Palace in last season's 5-0 final-day rout of Villa.
Bayern had a ruthless record in Champions League group-stage fixtures and they made a hugely impressive start to this term's new-look league phase.
Like Villa, they do not keep many clean sheets but they have won their first three Bundesliga away matches by 3-2, 6-1 and 5-0 scorelines so a high-scoring trip to Birmingham looks likely.
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