The Europa Conference League reaches the quarter-final stage, and Thursday sees two of the tournament favourites pitted against each other. Find Aston Villa vs Lille tips and predictions below, as Lucky Block previews this intriguing fixture.
Aston Villa vs Lille Tips
- Over 2.5 Goals @ 3/4
- Aston Villa to Win and Both to Score @ 23/10
Aston Villa vs Lille Match Info
- 📅 Thursday 11th April
- ⏱ Kick-Off 20:00
- 🏟 Villa Park, Birmingham
Aston Villa vs Lille Preview
Aston Villa are rightly favoured in the latest Europa Conference League outright odds, and that is largely down to the genius of the man in their dugout.
Unai Emery is a European specialist, and his frightening track record up to this point has seen him collect four Europa League honours – three of which came in successive years with Sevilla.
Villa’s latest European adventure – their first since 2010 – has so far seen them go from strength-to-strength. Aside from a hard-fought defeat in Warsaw on matchday one, they are unbeaten across their subsequent seven matches, scoring 16 and conceding six.
That includes a dominant four-goal display against Ajax last time out in the competition, which saw them safely through to this quarter-final.
Their efforts have been rewarded with one of the toughest tests left in the competition, with French outfit Lille just behind Fiorentina in the bookmakers’ outright estimations.
Les Douges are currently battling for a Champions League spot in Ligue 1 next season, with their renewed push for Europe’s elite club competition led by the free-scoring Jonathan David, who is behind only to Kylian Mbappe in France’s top-flight.
They are so far unbeaten away from home in the Conference League, and will be looking to register a strong result here to take back to Northern France. For context, they have registered the most points on home soil in Ligue 1, so a result in Birmingham on Thursday could go some way to swinging the momentum in their favour.
Aston Villa vs Lille Predictions and Betting Tips
Over 2.5 Goals
Goals have certainly not been at a premium with these two this campaign.
Five of Aston Villa’s eight Europa Conference League fixtures have seen over 2.5 goals, while Lille have scored two or more in the same amount of games.
Only Monaco and PSG have netted more goals than Lille in France, and seven of their previous nine league fixtures have hit this total.
From fourth-place in France to fifth in England, where Aston Villa sit level with Tottenham in fourth. They too have not reported any issues in front of goal this season, with only Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool scoring more.
12 of Aston Villa’s last 14 games have seen over 2.5 goals, and we expect Thursday night to be no different.
Aston Villa to Win and Both to Score
Although we expect this to be a fiercely contested tie between two very capable sides, the preference is for Aston Villa in their home leg.
Only Liverpool have scored more goals on home soil than Villa in the Premier League season, and while that typically comes packaged with conceding goals of their own, Emery knows how to navigate tricky European ties.
Only Pep Guardiola has more wins in European competition that Emery since 2009.
Aston Villa Team News
Although Unai Emery has confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns in midweek, he is still without defensive pair Matty Cash and Clement Lenglet.
Nicolo Zaniolo and Ezri Konsa return to the side after serving suspensions against Ajax in the last-16, while Douglas Luiz is available to play in Europe before his upcoming domestic suspension.
John McGinn and Moussa Diary are the only two at threat of suspension, with both just one booking away from missing the second leg.
Aston Villa Predicted Line-Up: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Luiz, McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Bailey, Watkins
Lille Team News
Lille also hold injury concerns of their own, with Tiago Morais, Andrej Ilic and Samuel Umtiti all facing a race against time to prove their fitness.
Manager Paulo Foncesca will be enthused by the return of former Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes, who has recovered from a hamstring problem sooner than expected.
Lille Predicted Line-Up: Chevalier; Santos, Diakite, Yoro, Ismaily; Andre, Haraldsson; Zhegrova, Cabella, David
Aston Villa vs Lille Odds
- Aston Villa 61/100
- Draw 3/1
- Lille 21/15
