On Thursday night, Aston Villa will play host to Legia Warsaw in a Europa Conference League Group E match, hoping to keep up their winning streak.
After a fantastic start to the season, Aston Villa supporters are dreaming of a surprise Premier League title run. However, their attention must now return to the UEFA Europa Conference League as they aim to qualify for the knockout stages by defeating Legia Warsaw.
With a 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, Unai Emery’s team improved their top-four standings and moved into the top four, two points off the top. Under the astute Spanish tactician, who took over with Villa embroiled in a relegation battle just 13 months ago, that has continued a remarkable rise.
Emery has already won four European trophies, and many have projected that he will win another after Aston Villa, the favourites in the UEFA Europa Conference League, destroyed Hibs 8-0 on aggregate to start their season.
But the Villans’ Europa Conference group stage campaign was off to a bad start as they were shocked 3-2 in Poland. They also required a late goal from John McGinn to defeat Bosnian team Zrinjski Mostar, but they recovered to defeat AZ Alkmaar both at home and away.
Legia Warsaw arrives in England in strong form having recovered from an alarming slump that included five losses in six games. Since then, they have gone five games without a loss. The visitors’ recent struggles have been evident, as demonstrated by their 2-2 draw with Warta Poznan last weekend.
Both Legia Warsaw and Aston Villa have nine points apiece, so whoever wins will advance to the next round.
News & Strategies for the Team
Aston Villa
Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings are still far from fully recovered from their knee injuries. Otherwise, Unai Emery’s team should have a full roster at his disposal. Alex Moreno is back in the lineup, and England youth international Jacob Ramsey (ankle) made an appearance off the bench at Spurs. Ramsey should be a contender to start here.
Emery will probably start a robust team at Villa Park because this season’s Aston Villa European campaign may be defined by the match at the top of the table.
Villa’s custodian Emi Martinez will stay in the net following his impressive performance against Spurs. After getting hooked against Spurs at halftime, Matty Cash might get another opportunity at right back in the hopes of being able to start in Europe. After Lucas Digne struggled against Spurs, Alex Moreno could start at left back for the first time this season.
Clement Lenglet, who has started every minute of Aston Villa’s Conference League games this season, will undoubtedly start at the centre of defence. The Frenchman’s likely partner will be Ezri Konsa.
After a fantastic start to the season, in-demand midfielder Douglas Luiz rises to the occasion in this pivotal match. After an outstanding cameo from the bench against Spurs, Emery might start Youri Tielemans on Thursday. Meanwhile, captain John McGinn has been in excellent scoring form, having scored four goals in his last eight appearances for the club and his country.
Ollie Watkins has been on fire for Villa this season, netting 12 goals across all competitions. In the attacking third, Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey, two speedsters, will provide support for the England international.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Luiz, Tielemans, Bailey; Diaby, Watkins
Warsaw Legia
Ramil Mustafaev, a right midfielder for Legia Warsaw, will not be available. He has missed a staggering 25 games since tearing his ACL in late July. Both Yuri Ribeiro, the centre back, and Jurgen Celhaka (yellow card) have been suspended in other competitions, so they should be available here.
Bartosz Kapustka and Filip Rejczyk have resumed full training, but none of the aforementioned quartet is anticipated to start for head coach Kosta Runjaic in the middle of the week. Steve Kapuadi, a Frenchman, is back from suspension after sitting out the 2-2 draw on Saturday. Thus, he ought to fit right in with Radovan Pankov and Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s three-man central defensive unit.
After scoring goals in three of his last four games for Legia Warsaw, veteran Portuguese forward Josue is fired up for his trip to Villa Park. Tomas Pekhart, who leads Warsaw with six goals, and Ernest Muci, who was named man of the match against Warta Poznan last week and has four goals in the Conference League this season, including the qualifying playoff, will also be looking to threaten Villa’s defence.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Tobiasz; Pankov, Jedrzejczyk, Kapuadi; Wszolek, Slisz, Elitim, Kun; Josue, Muci; Pekhart
