Aston Villa vs Lille Preview (Thursday, 19.03.2026) Champions League:
Possible starting lineups:
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
Aston Villa will welcome Lille to Villa Park in the second leg of their Europe League last-16 tie. The English side won 1:0 in France and they are favorites ahead of the second leg. Ollie Watkins' second-half header made the difference in the first leg. Lille also have some goal opportunities, the best through veteran striker Olivier Giroud, but failed to score. Overall, the French side had 3 shots on target, but Aston Villa scored from their only shot on target. The winners of the tie will face Bologna or Roma in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Aston Villa are the main favorites in UEFA Europe League. The bookmakers are offering odds around 3.25 for Aston Villa to win the competition. Indeed, the Midlands club were excellent in the group stage, winning seven of the possible eight matches. Winning the Europa League may represent an alternative way to the Champions League. This is important as they are awful in the Premier League, losing the third consecutive match last weekend. Emery has four injury worries ahead of this match. Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara remain sidelined with injuries, while Emiliano Buendia and Matty Cash are rated as doubtful.
Lille lost the home fixture seven days ago and now face a difficult task of overturning the deficit away from home. What is positive, that's the fact it is something they have already achieved this season. Bruno Genesio’s men came from one goal down against Crvena Zvezda Belgrade to win 2:1 on aggregate, after extra time. On Sunday they beat Rennes, Nevertheless, Aston Villa are class above the Serbian champions or Rennes. Genesio has five injured players out of this match. Hamza Igamane, Ethan Mbappe Lottin, Marc-Aurele Caillard, Osame Sahraoui and Ousmane Toure are all ruled out.
Aston Villa vs Lille Prediction:
I expect both teams to score in Birmingham. So far Aston Villa have played nine matches in Europe League and scored in all nine. It will be normal to find the back of the net again. Lille, meanwhile, lost at home and now must win as guests. It is not impossible, Lille already have a victory at Villa Park some 24 years ago, when they claimed a 2:0 away win over Aston Villa in the second leg of an Intertoto Cup semi-final tie. Both teams have good strikers, Ollie Watkins at one and Olivier Giroud on other side. Aston Villa have one-goal advantage, but they won't calculate in front of their own fans. Usually they are supported by Prince William when play European fixtures, so the players will have big motivation. Lille have no space for calculations, they need a victory to stay in the match. I expect an open game with goals on both sides.
Aston Villa vs Lille Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.91 with Bet365
