Aston Villa are firm favourites to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League as they hold a one-goal lead heading into the second leg of their last-16 clash with Lille at Villa Park on Thursday night.
Indeed, the Villans were victorious 1-0 in the first leg in France, and on home soil, all they need to do is avoid defeat to progress.
Lille have been largely inconsistent in the competition, with five wins and six defeats in total, and so it is difficult to predict how the Ligue 1 side will perform.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our Today's betting tips page for more of our free expert Europa League predictions!
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Aston Villa vs Lille key stats
- Villa have won the most games in the Europa League this season (eight).
- Lille have recorded the second-most defeats in the competition (six).
- Villa have lost just once in five previous H2Hs in all competitions (W2, D2).
Aston Villa vs Lille preview: Villans to emerge victorious again?
| Aston Villa | vs | Lille |
|---|---|---|
| 4th (Premier League) | Position | 5th (Ligue 1) |
| 51 | Points | 44 |
| 40 | Goals For | 40 |
| 37 | Goals Against | 33 |
| 6 | Clean Sheets | 8 |
| 4th | Home Rank | 10th |
| 6th | Away Rank | 3rd |
After such a strong first half of the season, where Villa were seen as potential Premier League title contenders, things have certainly slowed down.
They are now in a battle just to finish in a Champions League place and have been knocked out of both domestic cup competitions.
Six of John McGinn's last nine goals have come in Europe.
However, one trophy that they could still win is the Europa League, which would be Unai Emery's fifth in this competition - he already holds the record for the most won by a manager.
Villa have hardly put a foot wrong in Europe so far, and should be strong favourites to progress into the quarter-finals.
As for Lille, having been knocked out of the Coupe de France and off the pace at the top of the Ligue 1 table, the Europa League perhaps is their biggest chance to win silverware.
However, they have a lot of work to do, and are certainly underdogs to overturn their one-goal deficit in the second leg.
Lille boss Bruno Genesio has been knocked out of the Europa League four times at the last-16 stage.
Their 14 goals after 11 matches played is one fewer than Villa's tally of 15 having played two games more, and realistically they may need to score at least two goals as keeping out the hosts will be very tough.
Nonetheless, it would be a huge shock to see Lille go through against one of the tournament favourites.
Aston Villa vs Lille form guide & betting tips
| Aston Villa | vs | Lille |
|---|---|---|
| D-L-L-W-L | Form | W-W-D-L-W |
| 4 | Goals For | 6 |
| 10 | Goals Against | 3 |
| W-W-W | Europa League form | L-W-L |
Whispers predicts: Aston Villa 2-1 Lille
Villa are unsurprisingly the favourites with bookmakers, who are offering a best price of 7/10 for them to win.
Given their strong performance in the competition, we feel inclined to agree.
In terms of betting picks, the Both Teams To Score (BTTS) market is worth exploring given that Villa have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 home games.
BTTS - Yes at 10/11 with bet365 is therefore worth backing to us.
Focusing on player markets, John McGinn to score or assist at 23/10 with BetMGM could come through, as he did both the last time these two sides met at Villa Park.
That finished 2-1 to the hosts in the Conference League in 2024, and we are happy to back the Correct score - 2-1 at 17/2 with Betfred as an outside punt.
> BTTS - Yes at 10/11 | Likelihood: Probable
> John McGinn to score or assist at 23/10 | Likelihood: Possible
> Correct score - 2-1 at 17/2 | Likelihood: Outsider