French reveal should boost Aston Villa confidence vs Lille – here’s why
Aston Villa’s last chance for silverware this season surely lies in the Europa League.
With Aston Villa now 16 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, Unai Emery will be putting a major focus on their Europa League campaign now.
Given Villa’s drop off in form in the league, putting all their eggs in the Europa League basket when it comes to qualifying for the Champions League next season could be a shrewd, and higher-percentage play.
However, Emery’s side face a challenging two-legged clash with French outfit Lille in the Round of 16, which will see them travel to France on Wednesday night for the first leg.
What is Aston Villa’s record vs French teams?
Aston Villa have been excellent in the Europa League this season so far, winning seven of their eight league phase games to finish second.
However, their only defeat in that stage of the competition did come away from home, when Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles beat them 2-1 on 23 October last year.
Lille will be the first French team Villa play in Europe this season, marking a fresh test for the Villans to pass.
This will be far from Villa’s first rodeo against a side from across the English Channel, however, and when looking at the history books in that regard, they tell a story of high success levels for the boys from B6.
As detailed by Transfermarkt, Villa have played French teams 10 times in competitive fixtures, and they’ve won five of those games.
In fact, Lille are the team they’ve encountered most, playing them four times so far with two wins, one draw and one loss, with the most recent meeting coming in April 2024 when Villa won 4-3 on penalties in the Conference League.
They’ve also played Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and Rennes twice each, beating all of them once, whilst losing to both PSG and Rennes and drawing with Bordeaux respectively.
As such, Villa boast a 50 per cent win record when facing off against French clubs, and that’s not a number to be shrugged at whatsoever, and should give them confidence heading into this tie with Lille.
How good have Lille been at home this season?
Currently sitting sixth in Ligue 1, Lille are continuing to be a perennial European football contender in the French top flight.
Bruno Genesio’s team are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions too, winning three of those, and so are sure to pose Aston Villa problems across the two legs.
And crucially ahead of Wednesday’s first leg at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, they’ve won 24 of their 41 points at home this term, with 17 coming on the road, albeit having played one less game on their travels.
They’ve won seven, drawn three and lost three from their 13 home games this term, and boast a goal difference of plus six, scoring 20 and conceding 14.
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