Aston Villa vs Lille prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-04-10 19:00.
[p]With their bid to finish in the top-four of the Premier League faltering in recent weeks, Aston Villa will be grateful to return to Europe where they head into their first UEFA quarter-final since 1997/98. Lille await in the Europa Conference League last-eight, and the hosts will certainly be confident having won six of their last eight European games at Villa Park (D1, L1) – including a 4-0 thumping of Dutch giants Ajax to reach this stage.[/p]
[p]Villa must feel they hold all the aces when turning to their dugout, as manager Unai Emery has won his last seven UEFA quarter-finals while in charge of four different clubs! This will be the Villans’ first meeting with French opposition in two decades, but they’ll be keen to banish memories of that as they were eliminated from the Intertoto Cup in 2002 by none other than Lille.[/p]
[p]The visitors prevailed on that occasion thanks to a 2-0 victory at Villa Park, but that’s not something Lille are likely to be confident of repeating having failed to win any of their last seven matches against English opposition (D1, L6). The Mastiffs have been imperious in this season’s competition though, going unbeaten in their ten outings so far (W6, D4).[/p]
[p]Paulo Fonseca’s men strolled into the quarter-finals by virtue of a 4-1 aggregate success over Sturm Graz that saw them win the away leg 3-0. A repeat would be the stuff of dreams for the travelling faithful as Lille enter their first-ever UEFA quarter-final, but an ongoing three-match unbeaten run away from home (W2, D1) should see the visitors arrive in Birmingham confident of getting something out of the game.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Each of Moussa Diaby’s last six Aston Villa goals have arrived on home soil, two of which came in the Europa Conference League. Lethal Lille striker Jonathan David has directly contributed to 11 goals in his last nine appearances (G10, A1) – each of his last five strikes came after half-time.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Across their four away games in the Europa Conference League proper, Lille have conceded just once – an 81st minute equaliser against Slovan Bratislava.[/p]