STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Thurs: Aston Villa v Lille

Unai Emery will be hoping for more Europa League success when his Aston Villa look to finish the job against Lille on Thursday in their round-of-16 tie, writes JOE CITRONE.

Aston Villa carry a narrow but valuable one-goal lead into the second leg after an impressive 1-0 victory away at Lille, where Ollie Watkins’ second-half finish proved decisive in the first encounter between the two sides.

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Aston Villa v Lille Olympique Sporting Club
UEFA Europa League Round of 16 2nd Leg
20:00 TNT Sports 1 / TNT Sports Ultimate

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
MAR 2026 EUROPA LEAGUE Lille 0-1 Aston Villa
APR 2024 CONFERENCE LEAGUE Lille 2-1 Aston Villa
APR 2024 CONFERENCE LEAGUE Aston Villa 2-1 Lille
AUG 2002 INTERTOTO CUP Aston Villa 0-2 Lille
JUL 2002 INTERTOTO CUP Lille 1-1 Aston Villa

ASTON VILLA
MAR 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Man Utd 3-1 Aston Villa
MAR 2026 EUROPA LEAGUE Lille 0-1 Aston Villa
MAR 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Aston Villa 1-4 Chelsea
FEB 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa
FEB 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE Aston Villa 1-1 Leeds

LILLE
MAR 2026 LIGUE 1 Rennes 1-2 Lille
MAR 2026 EUROPA LEAGUE Lille 0-1 Aston Villa
MAR 2026 LIGUE 1 Lille 1-1 Lorient
MAR 2026 LIGUE 1 Lille 1-0 Nantes
FEB 2026 EUROPA LEAGUE Crvena zvezda 0-2 Lille

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Two years on from their penalty shootout loss to Aston Villa in the Conference League quarter-finals, Lille face the prospect of another European elimination against the same opposition.

They will hope to build on the momentum from their weekend victory over Rennes, where Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Hakon Haraldsson were on target to seal the win.

With a place in the quarter-finals on the line here, I am expecting a fairly cagey affair, and that’s why I like the look of under 2.5 goals at 10/11 with starsports.bet.

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PROFIT/LOSS (MAR 2026): -51.25 points

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