Basel vs Aston Villa Prediction: Malen to be the man for Villa?

Basel welcome Aston Villa to St Jakob-Park on Thursday night (20:00 GMT, live on TNT Sports 1) for matchday six of this season's Uefa Europa League.

Villa are joint-top, along with FC Midtjylland and Lyon, of the 36-team standings having accumulated 12 points after five matches, while Basel have won each of their last seven home matches in this competition. Read on for my Basel vs Aston Villa prediction, along with the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Former Liverpool and Stoke City man Xherdan Shaqiri, who is Basel's captain, is enjoying a stellar season so far, recording 11 goals and 10 assists across 25 games - he's expected to continue in an attacking role on Thursday night.

Kaio Eduardo could miss out for the hosts due to injury, while former Sheffield United man Benie Traore is expected to start in attack.

As for Villa, Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley remain sidelined with respective thigh and knee problems, while Evann Guessand missed the victory over Arsenal due to a knock, and it's expected to keep him out again here.

Donyell Malen could replace Ollie Watkins up top, while some of Villa's fringe players such as Victor Lindelof, Jadon Sancho and Lucas Digne could all feature should Unai Emery feel the need to rotate his side.

Basel vs Aston Villa Odds

The hosts are 10/3 to claim all three points, the draw is 3/1, and Villa are 8/11 favourites for the game, giving them an implied win probability of 57.9%.

Watkins is the current favourite to score anytime at 1/1, followed by fellow teammate Malen at 5/4, and if you fancy goals at both ends, both teams to score can be backed at 8/15.

Match Result - Draw @ 3/1

Both sides enter this contest in good form - Basel haven't lost at home in Europe this season, and Villa have won each of their last seven.

In fact, Villa's early-season struggles have been long forgotten as Emery's men moved up to second in the Premier League table behind Arsenal after their 2-1 win over the Gunners at the weekend. As mentioned in the introduction, Villa are also joint-top of the Europa League table.

However, their away form of late hasn't been brilliant - they lost 2-1 to Go Ahead Eagles on their last European trip before suffering a 2-0 defeat at Anfield.

Basel could punish any sloppiness from the visitors, so I'm going to back the draw, which is full of value at 3/1.

Donyell Malen to score anytime @ 5/4

I'm expecting Emery to rotate his side for Thursday's contest, which should see Malen drafted into the starting XI.

The Dutchman bagged a brace in Villa's most recent European affair - a 2-1 win over Young Boys - and also got on the scoresheet away at Brighton & Hove Albion last week. In fact, Malen is the club's top scorer in this competition this season with three goals.

The 26-year-old has proven himself to be a reliable back-up to Watkins, and he's a sensible pick to get on the score sheet on Thursday night.

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