BET BUILDER
Over 2.5 Goals
Ollie Watkins to Score
Douglas Luiz to Commit 2 or more Fouls
Jonathan David to have 2 or more Shots on Goals
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
Aston Villa v Lille
Europa Conference League match at Villa Park, Birmingham
TV: TNT Sports, Thursday, 8pm
Over 2.5 Goals
Both teams come into their Europa Conference League match in ripe goal-scoring form. Aston Villa have scored 11 goals over their last five games in all competitions while their French opponents have netted nine over their last five fixtures.
On home soil, Unai Emery’s side have won three, drawn one, and lost one of late, scoring 13 while conceding nine. Lille have won two, drawn one, and lost two of their five most recent away games, scoring seven and conceding seven. First legs can be cagey as we all know but with the away goals rule long gone now, Villa are going to have to use home advantage to their favour while Lille are certainly good enough against a defence who are leaking goals at Villa Park. We should see at least three goals being scored here.
Ollie Watkins to Score
After missing Villa’s 4-1 mauling at the hands of Manchester City, Ollie Watkins returned to the side to score two goals, and recuse a point, against Brentford over the weekend. The English striker has 18 Premier League goals to his name this season as well as six in eight in the Conference League.
Lille have only kept two clean sheets over their last eight fixtures and with four goals over his last five on home turf, Watkins should be finding the back of the net.
Douglas Luiz to Commit 2 or more Fouls
After picking up a late Yellow Card against Brentford over the weekend, Douglas Luiz will miss Villa’s next Premier League game at home to Bournemouth. He is, however, free to play in Europe.
Luiz is just behind Boubaca Kamara as Villa’s worst offender in terms of fouls this season but he could be in for a tricky night here against the pace of both Remy Cabella and Lille’s top scorer Jonathan David who both love to operate between the defensive and midfield lines. He might get booked but we’re playing it safer by backing him to commit at least two fouls.
Jonathan David to have 2 or more Shots on Goals
The aforementioned Jonathan David has 18 Ligue Un goals this campaign as well as three in domestic cup competition and four in the Conference League. With an average of 2.6 shots per game, he’s going to be eager to test out Emiliano Martinez’s reflexes between the Villa sticks.
His supporting players have nowhere near his goalscoring figures so we can expect them to be feeding the ball to David when they have the chance and the way Villa play and pour players forward in attack, he should have a decent amount of goalscoring opportunities on Thursday night.
BET BUILDER
Over 2.5 Goals
Ollie Watkins to Score
Douglas Luiz to Commit 2 or more Fouls
Jonathan David to have 2 or more Shots on Goals
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now