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- - Sport - Football - Aston Villa FC Monchengladbach 2-1 Aston Villa highlights and ratings from pre-season defeat BirminghamLive brings you coverage of Aston Villa's final pre-season friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach (2:30pm kick-off) Aston Villa complete their preparations for the new campaign against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany this afternoon. Unai Emery's side come into the match on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup. Star trio Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martínez will not feature as they complete their four-week post-World Cup break. Neither will Brian Madjo or João Gomes, with both ruled out through injury. Madjo scored late in the first half of Villa’s defeat to PSG to equalise after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener, before Désiré Doué restored the lead for the European champions in the second half. Today's opponents, Mönchengladbach, finished 12th in the Bundesliga last season and have won their last two friendlies, beating Hansa Rostock 3-1 and Velbert 8-0. Managed by Eugen Polanski, Gladbach don't have many household names in their squad, but Villa fans may be familiar with the likes of Nico Elvedi, Florian Neuhaus and Kevin Stöger. Stay tuned for match updates and goal alerts with our Villa correspondent John Townley in Monchengladbach. Key Events All over here in Germany. Ratings to follow... Juventus have revived their interest in Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez, with Villa subsequently targeting Zion Suzuki as a potential replacement. Emi Buendia pulls the ball back across the box for John McGinn to fire in from close range. Tammy Abraham comes off injured. He slipped in the middle of the pitch trying to reach Ross Barkley's pass and was in some discomfort. Villa's medical staff treated him on the pitch before he walked off and limped down the tunnel. Emi Buendia takes the ball in a pocket of space outside the box and rolls it to Ian Maatsen to strike. The full-back’s finish was poor, though, dragging the ball wide of the target. We're back underway... Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Emi Buendia, Ian Maatsen and Matty Cash have all come on for the start of the second half. Villa's second half XI: Bizot; Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen; Kamara, Barkley; Alysson, McGinn, Buendia; Abraham. Tim Kleindienst’s double has Gladbach comfortable at the break. Villa didn't create any real chances to score in the first half. Alysson has been direct when he’s received the ball, but was booked for a late tackle. Tammy was barely involved. Tim Kleindienst heads in a second for Gladbach. Came directly from a corner. Gladbach lead in the 30th minute. Franck Honorat races in behind on the right before squaring to Tim Kleindienst to tap in. Ball comes out to Lukas Ullrich, but the left-back’s effort is straight at Marco Bizot. Shortly after, Hugo Bolin misses a presentable chance after ghosting into the box. Gladbach have had the better of the two chances so far. Referee Sascha Stegemann has blown for a hydration break, and Unai Emery is not happy about it. He throws his arms up in frustration, and the whole stadium boos it too. Completely unnecessary with the season only a week away. After Marco Bizot punched a corner towards the edge of the box, Gladbach’s Robin Hack struck a volley just past the post. It would’ve been a worldie had it gone in. The game has had few goalscoring chances until now. Alysson glides past a Gladbach midfielder before being fouled by the next. His free kick, aimed towards the back post, is poor, however. Goal kick for Gladbach. Just moments later, he is booked for a late slide tackle. Ross Barkley has been careless in possession early on, which has nearly cost Villa. Luckily, Gladbach have been lacking quality in and around the box early on. Really, Villa should have been punished. In what was Villa’s first attack of the game, Tyrone Mings knocked the ball down the left channel for Triston Rowe. The full-back then picked out George Hemmings, but the youngster was crowded out by Gladbach midfielders. The game has kicked off at BORUSSIA-PARK. I'll bring you some updates and goal alerts as Villa conclude their pre-season preparations... Burnley boss Nicky Hayen has confirmed that set-piece coach Pal Fjelde is in talks with Aston Villa, and the Championship club are prepared for him to leave. “We know that he's on speaking terms with Villa,” he said. “So we're aware of the situation and we're ready to anticipate when it happens.” It’s an interesting team selection from Unai Emery, who is resting most of his starts ahead of the season-opener. That includes the likes of Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins, who are still on their post-World Cup break. Perhaps it was the PSG game which Emery used to get more minutes into the legs of the likes of Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn, instead of this game. I wouldn't be surprised if there were several changes made on the hour mark today. Excited to see George Hemmings, Alysson and Luka Lynch from the start. Villa starting XI vs Gladbach: Bizot; Nedeljkovic, Lindelof, Mings, Rowe; Bogarde, Barkley; Alysson, Lynch, Hemmings; Abraham. Subs: Wright, Asemota, Cash, McGinn, Kamara, Buendia, Torres, Jimoh-Aloba, Maatsen, Burrowes, Borland, Broggio. Good afternoon and welcome to BirminghamLive’s coverage of Aston Villa’s final pre-season friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach. Unai Emery’s side start their Premier League season against Brighton next Sunday, following eight matches over the summer. They lost 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday evening, and star performers Joao Gomes and Brian Madjo will miss this game due to injury. We’re expecting team news at around 1:30pm.