At A Glance
Villa Park hosts a Europa Conference League quarter-final on Thursday night when Aston Villa entertain LOSC Lille.
The two sides meet for the first leg under the lights in B6, with Villa looking to continue their fine form in the competition following a 4-0 aggregate Round of 16 victory against Ajax.
Unai Emery’s team have won all five of their home matches in the ECL thus far, scoring 12 goals along the way.
Lille have also excelled en route to the last eight, going undefeated in their eight matches.
The team’s strong form in Europe has coincided with a challenge for a top-four finish in Ligue 1.
Paulo Fonseca’s team have put a five-match unbeaten run together in the league, including a 3-1 win against Olympique Marseille last time out.
Road To The Quarter-Finals
Lille went straight into the group stage of the Europa Conference League following a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1 last season.
They were paired with NK Olimpija, KÍ Klaksvík and Slovan Bratislava in Group A, topping the table after four wins and two draws.
Ten goals were scored and only two were conceded in the group stage, and Lille carried their strong form into the Round of 16.
Austrian side Sturm Graz were beaten 3-0 away from home before a 1-1 draw in France saw Lille through to the last eight.
Midfielder Yusuf Yazici has played in every match and is the team’s top scorer with four goals in the competition.
The Last Meeting
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.
The Boss
“Respect the competition and respect the opponent. They have experiences in Europe, Lille as a team. I know their president is very competitive and an experienced man in Europe. They are focusing on this competition and this quarter-final, not playing between two matches against us in the French league. They have good players with good experiences in Europe. They have a good coach, Fonseca, an experienced coach. They have very good players, individually. They are a very competitive team with a very good coach.”
Unai Emery
