Aston Villa take on Athletic Bilbao in their penultimate pre-season friendly of the summer before their Premier League campaign kicks off at West Ham in 10 days.
Unai Emery's squad returned from the USA earlier this week after three defeats to Columbus Crew, RB Leipzig and Club America. Villa were without key players Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez as they were on their break after representing their nations in respective finals last month.
Opponents Athletic Bilbao finished fifth in La Liga last season and qualified for the Europa League. They are managed by Ernesto Valverde, who has been in charge since the end of June following the departure of former Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores.
Sevilla have played four pre-season friendlies this summer and beat Fulham 2-1 in the Algarve on Monday night. Before their victory over the Cottagers, they beat Al-Ittihad 1-0, which followed defeats to Sporting and Orlando Pirates.
As for Villa, they'll only have one more friendly left to play after tonight ahead of their opening game of the new Premier League campaign on Saturday, August 17 at the London Stadium. Emery's squad will fly out to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (4pm BST kick-off).
Stay tuned for build-up, team news and live match coverage with our Villa correspondent John Townley.
Key Events
Player ratings
FT: Villa 3-2 Bilbao
GOAL: Villa 3-2 Bilbao
GOAL: Villa 2-2 Bilbao
GOAL: Villa 2-1 Bilbao
KEY EVENT
Player ratings
Here are the Villa player ratings
KEY EVENT
FT: Villa 3-2 Bilbao
It's over here at the Bescot Stadium. I'll bring you player ratings soon...
KEY EVENT
GOAL: Villa 3-2 Bilbao
Cameron Archer does what Cameron Archer does best. He picks up Emi Buendia's ball in behind before rounding the goalkeeper and converting.
John Townley
Iling-Junior chance
84 - Barkley drives forward and plays the ball to Iling-Junior, whose effort is well saved by Padilla. Great chance for Villa to go in front again. Remains 2-2.
John Townley
Villa denied penalty
82 - Nedeljkovic beats two players before entering the box. He is bundled over, but the referee says no penalty. More exciting play from the 18-year-old.
KEY EVENT
GOAL: Villa 2-2 Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao level the game up as Gorka Guruzeta finishes from a cross.
John Townley
Nedeljkovic is rapid
71 - The right-back bursts up the pitch from the halfway line. His shot inside the box didn't trouble Padilla, but it was excellent play from the defender to make the attack out of nothing.
John Townley
Villa changes
61 - Barkley, Maatsen, Dendoncker, Swinkels, Buendia, Archer and Iling-Jr are all on now.
KEY EVENT
GOAL: Villa 2-1 Bilbao
Jaden Philogene restores Villa's lead by stroking the ball across Alex Padilla from inside the box.
John Townley
McGinn free-kick
57 - McGinn swings in a free-kick from out wide, but it's a poor one. Cleared at the near post. The captain then takes the ball again and fires wide.
John Townley
Bailey chance
51 - Broke forward really well in the 50th minute before he offloaded the ball to Bailey, but the winger's effort with his weaker right side went wide. It was the first we've seen of Philogene in this half. When he gets the ball you get the feeling that he can make something happen, much like Bailey on the opposite flank.
John Townley
Onana tackling well
49 - Nedeljkovic breaks forward and tried to link with Bailey on the right wing. Bilbao defend well.
50 - Onana then tackles well in the middle of the park and the ball finds its way to Torres, but his ball out wide is too strong.
KEY EVENT
Second half starts
We're back underway at the Bescot...
Philogene, Zych and Nedeljkovic have come on at the break for Cash, Ramsey and Gauci.
KEY EVENT
HT: Villa 1-1 Bilbao
Villa are level with Bilbao at the break. Ramsey, Rogers and McGinn all missed good chances to double the lead before Bilbao scored their equaliser from a set-piece.
John Townley
Bilbao clear
42 - Ramsey wins another corner for Villa after skipping past a Bilbao defender in the box. His cross is blocked for a corner.
43 - Tielemans sends in the corner, which Onana nearly reaches but the ball just goes over his head. Cash then fires at goal, but Padilla saves well.
43 - McGinn stops the counter attack with a brilliant tackle.
John Townley
Villa corner
32 - Rogers wins a corner after Villa use the ball well in build-up. Onana was barking order to his teammates during that move up the pitch.
33 - Tielemans takes the corner short to McGinn, but the Scot's cross is blocked. Nothing comes of it.
KEY EVENT
GOAL: Villa 1-1 Bilbao
Yeray Alvarez levels the for Athetlic Bilbao after Villa failed to clear their lines from a corner. McGinn, Rogers and Ramsey have all missed chances to double the lead.
John Townley
Rogers blazes over
23 - Tielemans punches the ball into McGinn, who managed to find Bailey on the right. Cash takes the ball on the overlap, but his cross is headed away.
24 - Bailey arrives in the box again and rolls the ball across to Rogers, but he fires over from close range. Villa could have three or four goals by now.
John Townley
Gauci makes top save
17 - Williams plays the ball across goal to a teammate, who should score. His effort is saved by Gauci - excellent goalkeeping. Bogarde then gets a foot in to block the rebound.
17 - Villa counter attack with Bailey, who found Rogers on the edge of the box, but his effort blazed well over the bar. Another good chance.
John Townley
Rogers offside
15 - Rogers puts the ball in the net, but the flag goes up. Digne found the forward in space running though on goal and he converted over Padilla with an excellent chip. Great technique, but the flag was raised.
16 - Bilbao go down the other end and nearly level the game up. Prados fires over from the edge of the box after a pull-back.
John Townley
McGinn chance
12 - It should be 2-0! Bailey leads a counter attack down the right and cuts inside before picking out McGinn at the far post. The Scot scuffed his effort and his rebound was blocked.
13 - Onana lays off Tielemans to shoot, but his effort was saved by Padilla.
John Townley
Bilbao chance
8 - Bogarde loses the ball, allowing Djalo to move into the penalty box. Torres does well to slow him up. The ball goes wide and Bilbao fire at goal, but Gauci is behind it. Good save.
KEY EVENT
GOAL: Villa 1-0 Bilbao
Ramsey finishes off an excellent move from Villa. Torres starts it from the back as he knocks the ball to Rogers, who then offloads it to Tielemans. The Belgian plays Ramsey in to convert past Padilla.
John Townley
Good start
2- McGinn and Onana combine before Cash pings the ball towards Rogers. The Villa forward can't quite take the ball under control. Encouraging start.
3 - Villa are baiting a press from Bilbao, then Torres will try to find Digne on the left in space. Villa have had all the ball so far.
KEY EVENT
Kick-off
We're underway at the Bescot Stadium...
I'll bring you updates every few minutes
John Townley
Kick-off countdown
We’re only minutes away from kick-off at the Bescot.
Interested to see how the dynamic between Morgan Rogers, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey will work, while Leon Bailey will likely play off the right in his familiar role.
Diego Carlos, Enzo Barrenechea and Robin Olsen are not in the squad, while Kaine Kesler-Hayden just just joined Preston North End on loan.
John Townley
Kesler-Hayden completes loan move
Aston Villa right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden has joined Preston North End on loan for the season.
The 21-year-old signed a new contract with Villa last month and moves to Deepdale after enjoying previous loan stints with Swindon Town, MK Dons, Huddersfield Town and, most recently, at Plymouth Argyle last season.
"I’m just so happy it went so smoothly and quickly," he said via the Preston website. "I’m delighted to be here and I can’t wait to get started. When I found out Preston wanted me to be here I just wanted to get here as quickly as possible ready for the game on Friday.
READ MORE HERE
KEY EVENT
Athletic Bilbao team news
Starting XI: Padilla, Gorosabel, Yeray, Paredes, Yuri, Vesga, Prados, I. Williams, O. Sancet, Berenguer, Djalo.
Subs: Gastesi, Adama, Jauregizar, Olabarrieta, Guruzeta, I. Lekue, Marton, Unai G, A. Herrera, H. Rincon, Canales, Dunabeitia.
KEY EVENT
Villa team news
Villa XI: Gauci, Cash, Bogarde, Pau, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, Ramsey, McGinn, Bailey, Rogers.
Subs: Zych, Wright, Barkley, Buendia, Moreno, Iling-Jr, Philogene, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Dendoncker, Archer, Swinkels.
John Townley
Digne's agent speaks out
Lucas Digne's agent Mikkel Beck has rejected claims that the left-back has agreed a move to Galatasaray and insists he is fully focused on contributing to Aston Villa's upcoming season.
The 31-year-old enjoyed an excellent campaign last term and was one of Villa’s most consistent performers. He started 27 Premier League games and made a total of 46 appearances across all competitions.
Villa qualified for the Champions League, a competition which Digne has experience of playing in. He has two years remaining on his current deal and is of interest to many clubs this summer, including Galatasaray, but Beck has rubbished reports that the full-back has agreed a loan move to the Turkish champions.
READ MORE HERE
