On Thursday night, Aston Villa will travel to Stade Pierre-Mauroy for the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League match against LOSC Lille with the goal of securing a trip to the semi-finals.
After a thrilling 2-1 victory in the first leg last week in Birmingham, Aston Villa will have a slim lead going into the second leg of their quarterfinal matchup with LOSC Lille at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
As they continue to make a strong push for Champions League spots, Unai Emery’s team in the Premier League has confounded the bookies. Additionally, they moved three points clear of fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur after their thrilling 2-0 victory at title-hopeful Arsenal on Sunday.
Aston Villa has been the clear favorite for the Europe’s third-tier competition ever since they defeated Hibernian 8-0 overall in the play-off round to get into the competition. Aston Villa’s season has been remarkable, and they anticipate success in a number of areas. But the Villans have a difficult test coming up against Lille in France.
Under Paulo Fonseca’s leadership, Les Dogues, with 49 points, are fourth in Ligue 1. They are having a great season. The hosts are vying for a top-three finish, which would guarantee them a spot in the UEFA Champions League group stages for the next season.
Because they had the entire weekend off to prepare for this game, the hosts may have an advantage in terms of tactical readiness and level of freshness. Lille will probably be arranged in Fonseca’s favored 4-2-3-1 configuration. The French team’s goalkeeper, Lucas Chevalier, will be defended by Ismaily, Bafode Diakite, Leny Yoro, and Tiago Santos.
The two holding midfield players will be Nabil Bentaleb and Benjamin Andre. The three attackers will be Edon Zhegrova, Remy Cabella, and Gabriel Gudmundsson, as other strikers Andrej Ilic and Tiago Morais remain out due to injury.
In the first leg, Jonathan David was rather silent. However, back at home, Lille’s leading scorer might find his game. With 20 goals this season in all competitions, the Canadian will try to lead his team to the semifinals.
Chevalier; Santos, Diakite, Yoro, Ismaily; Andre, Bentaleb; Zhegrova, Cabella, Gudmundsson; David is the most likely lineup (4-2-3-1).
