Young Boys vs Aston Villa Champions League prediction and stats: Villans make long-awaited return
Aston Villa will hope to make a triumphant return to the Champions League when they travel to Young Boys on Tuesday.
The Villans haven’t dined at European football’s top table since 1983, when they reached the European Cup quarter-finals as defending champions before exiting to Juventus. Young Boys are in this stage of the Champions League for the fourth time in seven seasons.
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Three Young Boys vs Aston Villa predictions
Young Boys 2-2 Aston Villa (11/1 with BoyleSports)
Young Boys have conceded at least two goals in seven of their 10 games across all competitions this season. They are also winless in the Swiss Super League, drawing their past three matches.
Ollie Watkins to score anytime (11/10 with BoyleSports)
Ollie Watkins scored eight goals in European football last season — at least four more than any other Aston Villa player. He also got off the mark for the season at the weekend, netting twice against Everton.
Double Chance: Young Boys or Draw (6/5 with Boylesports)
Aston Villa won just one of their seven away European matches last season. beating AZ Alkmaar in the group stage. They lost two and drew four, though one of the draws did end in Aston Villa beating Lille on penalties.
How to watch Young Boys vs Aston Villa live
Young Boys vs Aston Villa kicks off at 5:45pm on Tuesday 17th September and will be broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports 1.
How both teams go into Young Boys vs Aston Villa
Aston Villa have made a strong start to the new season, winning three of their opening four Premier League games. The Villans have only lost to title hopefuls Arsenal, though that was a regression from results last season. West Ham, Leicester and Everton have all fallen, the latter giving up a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at the weekend. It means Villa go into their Champions League return in a positive spirit. Unai Emery’s men will be desperate to make a statement in their first Champions League match, especially after reaching the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season.
Young Boys, meanwhile, have made a dreadful start to the new season. The defending Swiss champions sit bottom of the league table after six games, still awaiting their first victory. Young Boys lost their opening three matches, steadying the ship ever so slightly with three successive draws. But they have tasted victory in the Swiss Cup and, most notably, beat Galatasaray home and away to qualify for the Champions League league phase. They’ll also be hoping to cash in on Aston Villa’s poor European away record, with the Villans struggling on the road last season.
Young Boys team news
Facinet Conte is out for the season with a cruciate ligament injury, while Young Boys will also be without Lukasz Lakomy, Facinet Conte and Saidy Janko. Captain Loris Benito returned to the starting XI in the cup at the weekend, but manager Patrick Rahmen did rotate heavily. So Benito should be in the squad but may not be expected to start.
Aston Villa team news
Leon Bailey missed the win over Everton at the weekend but has travelled with the squad to Switzerland and should be available. But the Villans remain without Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash. Amadou Onana was taken off at half-time against Everton, but it was revealed to be purely tactical by Emery.
Young Boys vs Aston Villa head-to-head
This will be the first-ever competitive meeting between these two clubs. Swiss sides have won just seven of the previous 24 meetings with English sides in the Champions League. Young Boys were responsible for just one of those, with Basel winning the other six.
