Bologna hope Riccardo Orsolini, Dan Ndoye and Thijs Dallinga can get turn their Champions League form around, but visit Aston Villa, who are fresh off beating Bayern Munich.
It kicks off at Villa Park in Birmingham at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
It has been a rough start to life on the Bologna bench for Vincenzo Italiano, who managed only one victory 2-1 away to Monza.
He also lost just two, 3-0 away to Napoli and 2-0 at Anfield with Liverpool, drawing the other seven fixtures.
That includes the last two in Serie A, 0-0 with Parma and fumbling a 2-0 lead away to Genoa on Saturday.
They are also missing injured Michel Aebischer, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Oussama El Azzouzi and Lewis Ferguson.
Dallinga gets the nod upfront rather than Santiago Castro, supported by Orsolini and Ndoye.
Samuel Iling-Junior was sold to Aston Villa by Juventus this summer, then immediately loaned out to Bologna.
Aston Villa qualified for this competition by finishing fourth in the Premier League and are back in that position again following a great start to the season.
They only lost one match, 2-0 to Arsenal on August 24, along with eight victories and two draws.
That included a 3-0 victory away to Swiss side Young Boys and 1-0 home win against the mighty Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Tyrone Mings is still recovering from knee surgery, while Kortney Hause is ineligible, but Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara shake off knocks.
Their goalkeeper is Argentina international Dibu Martinez, while Jhon Duran of Colombia is top scorer on six goals, despite only starting one match all season.
However, this evening he starts in place of Ollie Watkins.
Aston Villa vs. Bologna line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Bailey; Duran
Bologna: Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Freuler, Urbanski; Orsolini, Fabbian, Ndoye; Dallinga
Ref: Pinheiro (POR)
Season Analytics
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