Aston Villa look to build first leg advantage as they travel to LOSC Lille | OneFootball

Despite stuttering Premier League form of late, Aston Villa head into the first leg of their round of 16 knockout action as one of the competition’s hot favourites, having won seven and lost one in the league phase.

Meanwhile, LOSC Lille finished 18th in the league phase, and advanced to the round of 16 via a two legged playoff match up with Red Star Belgrade.Les Dogues managed to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit away at Red Star, with frontman Olivier Giroud grabbing an early opener to level up the tie on aggregate, before substitute Nathan Ngoy notched the winner in extra time.

Villa come into the fixture winless in four Premier League matches, with an overall downbeat feeling most recently compounded by back to back losses at the hands of bottom side Wolves and a hit-and-miss Chelsea. The Claret and Blues have tasted success at the Stade Pierre Mauroy as recently as 2024 however, with Unai Emery’s side ultimately qualifying for the UEFA Conference League Semi-Finals with a penalty shootout win – despite losing 2-1 on the night.

Lille’s last taste of defeat came in the aforementioned first leg against Red Star, since then Bruno Genesio’s men are unbeaten in four, with three wins and a recent draw at home to Lorient.

Aston Villa will be all too aware of the threat that Les Dogues striker, Olivier Giroud, poses. With the former Arsenal and Chelsea man having bagged five Ligue 1 and four Europa League goals this campaign, despite his age at 39. The World Cup winner was missing from Lille’s latest matchday squad however, plunging his Thursday night inclusion into doubt. The French side will also continue to be without fellow goal threat Hamza Igamane and wideman Ethan Mbappe leaving them to look towards Hakan Haraldsson to add to his six goals in all competitions.

Villa likewise boast an injury list full of noticeable absentees, including Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Harvey Elliot. Matty Cash’s halftime withdrawal last time out at Chelsea has also left the jury out on the Polish international’s inclusionthis evening, who was reportedly forced off with a minor calf issue. On a more positive note however, club captain John McGinn has been back in full training, it is hoped he will be included in the squad that travels to France, in what is a much needed boost for Emery’s side.

LOSC Lille host Aston Villa on Thursday 12th March for a 17:45 kick off UK time. The action will be available to watch on TNT Sports.