Aston Villa maintain a slender lead as they tackle Lille within the second leg of their Europa Convention League quarter-final, dwell on talkSPORT 2.
Unai Emery’s facet gained 2-1 at Villa Park within the first leg with targets from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn previous Bafode Diakite’s strike.
4
Villa now simply must defend their lead or lengthen it to succeed in the ultimate 4 of UEFA’s third-tier European competitors.
And so they’re in good kind to take action, coming into this important sport off the again of an incredible 2-0 win away at Arsenal on Sunday.
Lille vs Aston Villa: Great Watkins
Watkins is placing up the most effective numbers of his profession as he stars for Villa this season.
He has scored 19 instances within the Premier League and sits one behind Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland within the race for the Golden Boot.
His goalscoring hasn’t been unique to home competitors although, with that kind translating to the European stage.
The 28-year-old has netted in 4 of his final 5 Convention League appearances, with Phil Foden and Harry Kane the one Englishmen to attain extra on the continent.
Watkins’ targets have led Villa to go unbeaten of their final eight video games within the competitors they usually’re now on the point of a membership document.
Avoiding defeat in opposition to Lille will equal their longest unbeaten run ever in Europe, matching their historic title-winning marketing campaign in 1982.
4
- Lille have by no means progressed from their 4 two-legged main European ties when dropping within the first leg, with the final such occasion being the 2021-22 Champions League final 16 in opposition to Chelsea (0-2 away, 1-2 at dwelling).
- Lille and Aston Villa have met thrice in European competitions, with every group successful as soon as (D1).
Lille vs Aston Villa: Group information
Former Manchester United teen Angel Gomes made a comeback from harm within the first leg and will begin the second.
He’s now again to health not like Andrej Ilic, Samuel Umtiti and Rafael Fernandes who will all stay sidelined with accidents.
As for Villa, Nicolo Zaniolo seemingly picked up a knock in opposition to Arsenal on the weekend however it isn’t anticipated to maintain him out.
If he does miss out, he’ll be part of Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings within the remedy room.
Matty Money, John McGinn and Moussa Diaby are all one reserving away from a suspension.
4
- Aston Villa have did not win any of their three away video games in opposition to French sides in European competitors (D2 L1), with this their first such match since a 1-1 draw at Lille within the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
- Lille have misplaced their final two dwelling video games in opposition to English sides in all competitions, with each of those coming in opposition to Chelsea within the UEFA Champions League (2019 and 2022). Their solely earlier dwelling sport in opposition to Aston Villa was a 1-1 draw within the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Lille vs Aston Villa: What has been stated?
Emery is aware of the specter of being the away facet within the second leg however needs Villa to have labored laborious to discover a strategy to win in France.
Talking after the primary leg, he stated: “The end result was very tight and it was a decent match, very troublesome.
“We ready the match understanding and respecting them, and we gained. We’ve got to be, kind of, comfortable and respect them much more than we had been.
“They are going to be sturdy of their stadium and now we now have to attempt to play 90 minutes pondering how we are able to analyse the match deeply and higher taking part in there.
“We’ve got to attempt to get a superb end result there.”
4
- John McGinn has had a hand in each Aston Villa’s targets within the first leg in opposition to Lille (1 objective, 1 help). He has essentially the most objective contributions amongst all Aston Villa gamers within the UEFA Europa Convention League this season (6 – 3 targets, 3 assists).
- Lille’s Jonathan David has scored 2.5 targets fewer than anticipated within the UEFA Europa Convention League this season (3 targets, 5.5 xG), the very best adverse distinction of any participant within the competitors. He’s additionally the participant who missed essentially the most huge probabilities within the Convention League this time period (7/10).
Lille vs Aston Villa: talkSPORT protection
This Europa Convention League quarter-final second leg will probably be performed on Thursday, April 18.
Kick-off at Stade Pierre-Mauroy is scheduled for five:45pm.
talkSPORT 2 may have dwell protection of the sport from France.
Commentary will come from Alex Criminal and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.
