Dean Saunders picks out the Aston Villa star central to sealing historic Bayern win

Dean Saunders says Unai Emery has a magic formula to beat Bayern Munich - and it starts with Ollie Watkins.

The former Aston Villa striker believes the England striker will be the catalyst for the plan he expects to be deployed at Villa Park tonight.

Saunders, who played 112 times for Villa after joining in a club record £2.5m deal from Liverpool in 1992, says that he believes under Vincent Kompany that the Bavarians will operate to the same blueprint that the former Manchester City title-winner used at Burnley.

Saunders told mybettingsites.co.uk: “"Aston Villa's manager, Unai Emery, has a formula that he uses, home and away - and it has proved to be successful. So, Bayern Munich will know.

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“They'll go to Villa Park and Vincent Kompany as a manager, he played out from the back last year with Burnley - to their detriment - and I'm sure he'll do the same with the Bayern Munich players.

“He probably got the job because the powers-that-be said: ‘We like what you do and if you do it with better players, we'll have you.'

"So they'll come in and try to play football. For me, it's about getting in their faces from kick off.

“I would imagine Ollie Watkins starts the charge and everyone gets behind him and he can steal the ball off Bayern Munich and not give them any time on the ball. My tactic would be to not let Bayern Munich have loads of time on the ball.

“You can't let them walk into Villa’s half. Let's get right on top of them and risk playing through them at times.”

Saunders did help Villa win silverware, he scored during the 1994 League Cup triumph against Manchester United.

The club’s second leg semi-final in that competition against Tranmere Rovers went down in folklore as one of Villa’s best evenings at Villa Park as they overturned a 3-1 deficit to reach the final. And Saunders says the only thing Emery’s players can do is savour each moment.

He said: “The players have got to enjoy it. Aston Villa playing Bayern Munich at Villa Park...you’ve got to look forward to games like this. This is why you play football, as a player.

“As a fan, there will be young Villa fans, 14-15 years of age, in 12 years time they will go - 'I was at that game, Bayern Munich, Champions League, what a game.’ Seeing star players who play for Bayern Munich, Harry Kane. They've got some great players."

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