Overview
Aston Villa created an important turning point in their European journey when they defeated Lille in the first leg, and at the same time helped coach Unai Emery reach the milestone of 100 wins after only 181 matches - the fastest achievement in club history.
Although not creating too overwhelming a game, Villa still showed incredible effectiveness. Just one shot on target, they scored the decisive goal to win their eighth victory in 9 matches in the Europa League this season - the best achievement in the league to date.
Emery is satisfied with the performance of his players and aims to continue to maintain an impressive record in the knockout round. If they advance, Villa is likely to face Bologna or Roma in the quarterfinals.
The Europa League is also considered a possible path for the Midlands team to win a ticket to the Champions League next season, in the context that they have just suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Premier League and are struggling in the top 4 race.
Returning to Villa Park, Aston Villa has a significant foothold when they have won all 4 home matches in the Europa League this season. However, their recent performance at home is questionable, as they have only won 1 of their last 5 matches in all competitions and conceded 9 goals.
On the other side, Lille is facing the risk of stopping after failing to take advantage of their home advantage in the first leg. Coach Bruno Genesio's team is forced to play more risky in the second leg if they want to reverse the situation.
However, Lille is not without grounds for hope. They once came back against Red Star Belgrade in the play-offs this season and also have a beautiful memory at Villa Park with a 2-0 victory in 2002.
However, the history of confrontations with English representatives does not favor Lille, as they have only won 3 out of 20 encounters. However, the 2-1 victory over Rennes last weekend partly helped the French team regain confidence before this challenging away trip.
The second leg is therefore predicted to be a tense tug-of-war, where Aston Villa has an advantage, but Lille still has a chance if they take advantage of the decisive moments.
Personnel situation
Aston Villa continues to suffer personnel losses before the second leg when Youri Tielemans (ankle) and Boubacar Kamara (knee) still cannot return. Ross Barkley, despite just scoring against Man United, is also not eligible to play because he is not named in the Europa League list.
Emiliano Buendia leaves open the possibility of playing after encountering physical problems in the most recent match, while Matty Cash needs further testing due to a calf injury. If Cash does not recover in time, Lamare Bogarde is likely to take the right-back position.
Good news for the home team when Jadon Sancho is eligible to play and can start, replacing Buendia. In attack, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins are expected to continue to be in the starting lineup.
On the other side of the front line, Lille also does not have the strongest force when a series of players such as Hamza Igamane, Ethan Mbappe Lottin, Marc-Aurele Caillard, Osame Sahraoui and Ousmane Toure are all absent due to injury.
Bruno Genesio will likely bring some key players back to the squad after rotating in the match against Rennes, with names like Tiago Santos, Chancel Mbemba, Romain Perraud, Benjamin Andre, Gaetan Perrin and Olivier Giroud ready to start.
Expected lineup:
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Luiz, Onana, McGinn, Rogers, Sancho, Watkins.
Lille: Ozer, Santos, Mbemba, Mandi, Perraud, Bentaleb, Andre, Mukasu, Haraldsson, Perrin, Giroud.
The match between Aston Villa and Lille takes place at 3:00 a.m. on March 20 (Vietnam time).
