Aston Villa have won both of their European matches this season without conceding a goal. On Thursday, they take on Dutch opposition looking to make it three on the bounce.
Villa claimed all six points from a home match against Bologna and an away game against Feyenoord, the latter of which added to the club’s excellent competitive record against opponents from the Netherlands.
They’ve won five out of six fixtures against Feyenoord, Ajax and AZ, drawing the other. Manager Unai Emery will expect more of the same in the club’s first encounter with Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday.
Go Ahead Eagles manager Melvin Boel isn’t of a mind to make life easy for Villa on Thursday.
The 38-year-old followed an unusual path into European football. He had to stop playing at the age of 16 and went off to study business instead. After a serious car accident in 2010, he reflected on his priorities and chose to return to the game via a year-long internship at Feyenoord.
Boel promised Villa a difficult night in the Europa League.
“The moment you enter the pitch, it is a battle,” he told John Townley. “That is also what we will try to make tomorrow night. An English team is coming here, so everyone is looking forward to the game.
“The people in the stadium work their butts off the whole week to have a living. That’s also something we want to represent on the pitch. That’s also a little bit English.”
Ollie Watkins is in line for a start in Deventer after coming on as a substitute in Sunday’s Premier League win against Spurs. Emi Buendía also came off the bench and there was a start in London for Amadou Onana.
Jadon Sancho was back among the substitutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on his return from illness but Tyrone Mings remained unavailable through injury.
Mings was understood to be close to coming back and might be available to be named on the bench in the Netherlands on Thursday.
Youri Tielemans is expected to be absent until after the next international break. Right-back Andrés García is also injured.
With more players now available to Emery and two Europa League wins already in the bank, I’m going to back a couple of big shouts in our predicted starting eleven.
Firstly, after a phenomenal performance in the wake of a late call-up against Feyenoord in Rotterdam, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Marco Bizot come in for goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. It’s only fair.
Elsewhere, I’ve taken a punt that John McGinn will get a rest instead of starting three matches in eight days, allowing Emery to play both Lamare Bogarde and Evann Guessand in a game that might suit them without leaving Boubacar Kamara on the bench.
Ian Maatsen would be in with a chance regardless but the fresh gash across Lucas Digne‘s ankle is likely to be a factor in Emery’s team selection too.
Villa’s away game against Go Ahead Eagles will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+ in the UK.
Read more ➡️ How to watch Go Ahead Eagles v Aston Villa: kick-off time, TV channels and streams
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