Lille vs Aston Villa Prediction: Emery can continue glorious run in Europe

Aston Villa stopped Arsenal’s Premier League title charge in its tracks on Sunday as they came away from the Emirates with an impressive 2-0 victory. Now the Villans will travel to France to take on Lille (17:45, TNT Sports), as they try and secure their place in the Europa Conference League semi-finals, after winning the first leg at Villa Park 2-1. 

Unai Emery has won four Europa League titles, and is an expert when it comes to European competitions. With the target of adding another trophy to his illustrious collection, Emery will be desperate to get his side through to the final four. Below you can find my Lille vs Aston Villa prediction, featuring team news and match odds. 

Team News 

Lille had the weekend off in Ligue 1, while Villa had that testing trip to the Emirates, which could play a factor here. Its likely that Paulo Fonseca chooses a similar line-up to that one that turned out in Birmingham, with Angel Gomes likely to be the only change if he is fit to start. The England U21 international has recovered from a hamstring injury and came off the bench at Villa Park, so is expected to come into the Les Dogues’ midfield. Jonathan David will lead the line, with Andrej Ilic and Tiago Morais still on the sidelines.

For Villa, Clement Lenglet is back in contention after missing the first leg, and Matty Cash is also back fit, providing some different defensive options for Emery to consider. However, it is unlikely he makes too many changes from the side that played so well at the weekend, with Ezri Konsa set to continue at right-back. Leon Bailey could return to the XI, while Douglas Luiz should play in midfield, having served his suspension in that win over Arsenal. 

Match Odds

Lille have to win this game, and they are favourites to do so, priced at 13/10 with Betfred. That gives them a win probability of 43%, while Aston Villa are 15/8 to win the game in 90 minutes. A draw can be backed at 13/5, over 2.5 goals is 4/5 and BTTS is 8/13. 

BTTS @ 8/13

Both teams scored in the first leg of this tie, and with two fine attacks on show, I’m expecting more of the same here. BTTS has come in successfully in three of Villa’s last four outings, with the only exception being that brilliant clean sheet at Arsenal. More so, they’ve now scored at least one goal in each of their last seven matches. 

BTTS has won in 67% of Villa games this season, while Lille also love goals. Their last six fixtures have all ended with both teams on the scoresheet and with David and Watkins fit and firing, I’m expecting a lot of goalmouth action from both sides. 

Ollie Watkins to score, Villa to win and BTTS @ 11/2

We expect goals here, and I also expect Villa to progress for several reasons. One, they have one of the best knockout managers in the business. Emery rarely loses a European tie over two legs, and he has this Villa side eating out of the palm of his hand right now. The win over Arsenal was arguably their best performance of the season, and I believe they can produce something similar in France. 

Lille concede plenty of goals and so I think Villa can win again in 90 minutes, killing off the tie early on. Meanwhile, Watkins will be licking his lips as he looks to continue his incredible goalscoring form. After bagging again at the weekend, he’s now scored 26 goals this season, with four of those coming in his last five appearances in this competition. He opened the scoring in the first leg, and I don’t think Lille will be able to stop him finding the net again. 

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