Aston Villa host LOSC Lille in the last eight of the Europa Conference League on Thursday night.
The two sides meet at Villa Park for the first leg of their quarter-final tie, with Unai Emery's side looking to gain the upper hand ahead of the return fixture in France.
Get to know more about Villa's opponents below...
Scenesetter
LOSC Lille journey to Villa Park in high spirits after securing a strong sequence of results in Ligue 1.
Much like Aston Villa, the team from the north of France is pushing for a top-four finish domestically, strengthening their chances with a five-game unbeaten run.
Paulo Fonseca’s men are fresh from a 3-1 victory against Olympique Marseille, which followed a week on from a 2-1 derby day triumph at home to Lens.
Those results have left Lille fourth in the table as they chase Champions League football next term, but their sights will also be on extending their run in the Europa Conference League.
Lille is yet to lose in the competition this season, coming through their six group stage matches with 14 points (W4, D2) to top the standings.
The French side beat Austrian side Sturm Graz 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.
Key players
Jonathan David
The Canadian international is behind only Kylian Mbappé in the Ligue 1 scoring charts as he spearheads the Lille attack once again.
David has improved his goal tally in each of his three prior seasons at the club since joining from KAA Gent in 2020, bagging 26 goals last term.
A brace against Sturm Graz in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie helped his side set up a clash with Villa.
Lille began the season favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation but have recently moved to a 4-3-3, with David the lone centre forward in both systems.
Leny Yoro
Homegrown centre-back Yoro has racked up the third-most amount of minutes in the Lille squad this season.
At the tender age of 18, the Frenchman has been a key piece of Paulo Fonseca’s four-man defence, with Bafodé Diakité preferred alongside him in recent weeks.
Yoro broke into the team on a regular basis in the second half of last season and has recently passed 50 games for the club.
The defender’s ability to read the game and make key interventions has marked him out as a player with a big future.
Edon Zhegrova
Zhegrova is the side’s chief creator, while also boasting a clinical side when going for goal himself.
The winger, who leads the team with nine assists in all competitions, is Lille’s second-highest scorer, finding the net 11 times this season.
Despite being left-footed, Zhegrova plays exclusively on the right-hand side, cutting in on his favoured foot.
The 25-year-old Kosovan international possesses great technical ability and dribbling skills, making him a hard player to tie down for opposing full-backs.
Lille’s No23 has completed the most dribbles (2.9) and key passes (1.6) for his side in Ligue 1.
Manager focus
Paulo Fonseca is a familiar name to English football fans despite the fact he’s never held a head coaching position in this country.
The 51-year-old has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs both before and after taking his current position at Lille, owing to his strong CV.
A centre-back who spent his entire career in Portugal, Fonseca made a name for himself as a coach during spells at Paços Ferreira, Porto and Braga after cutting his teeth in the lower leagues.
A successful stint in charge of Shakhtar Donetsk saw him win a league and cup double in each of his three seasons in Ukraine before Roma came calling.
His time in Rome brought a fifth place finish in Serie A and a Europa League semi-final.
A year out of the game followed his departure from the Italian giants and he linked up with Lille in June 2022, guiding them to fifth place in his first season in charge.
Last visit to Villa Park
The French side left Villa Park victorious and advanced to the final of the Intertoto Cup after a 2-0 win in this semi-final second leg back in August 2022.
After netting a stoppage-time equaliser to cancel out Ian Taylor’s goal in the first leg, Lille took the initiative when Abdelilah Fahmi scored just before the half-time whistle.
Another strike from Nicolas Bonnal at the start of the second half ended home hopes of a comeback.
A late red card for Sylvain N’Diaye failed to derail the visitors.
