Key occasions
The first leg. A reminder of what occurred last week, when Ollie Watkins gave Villa a one-goal lead with a second-half header.
Unai Emery makes 4 adjustments to his Aston Villa aspect from the XI that began the 1-0 win in Lille last week. Tammy Abraham, Ian Maatsen, Victor Lindelöf and captain John McGinn are in; Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendía, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne drop to the bench.
Olivier Giroud, as soon as of Arsenal and Chelsea, leads the road for Lille. Nabil Bentaleb, previously of Tottenham and Newcastle, begins in midfield.
The groups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen, Onana, Douglas Luiz, Sancho, Rogers, McGinn, Abraham.
Subs: Bizot, Wright, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Elliott, Buendia, Watkins, Digne, Garcia, Bailey.
Lille: Ozer, Meunier, Mbemba, Alexsandro Victor, Ngoy, Bouaddi, Bentaleb, Perraud, Mukau, Giroud, Correia.
Subs: Bodart, Lanssade, Fernandez, Arnar Haraldsson, Edjouma, Santos, Mandi, Verdonk, Diaoune, Baret, Boussadia.
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy).
Preamble
Aston Villa ought to be good for this. They’ve solely confronted Lille as soon as earlier than in European competitors, and obtained by within the 2023-24 Conference League quarters. They’ve gained every of their last six Europa League video games, a run that by definition contains the primary leg of this tie. Lille have by no means gained in England, dropping on their last seven visits. And Villa have Unai Emery on the wheel: Mr Europa League has gained this competitors 4 instances, with a runners-up medal thrown in as well. But it’s not been a banner week for English groups on the continent, so let’s not get too far forward of ourselves. Bologna or Roma ready within the quarters, thoughts. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
