Why Sebastian Gishamer refereeing record is great news for Aston Villa ahead of clash vs Viking
Sebastian Gishamer is the referee in charge of Aston Villa's Champions League game against Viking.
Unai Emery's side pause their Premier League campaign on Wednesday night and switch focus back to Europe.
Norwegian champions Viking come to Villa Park for an 8pm kick-off for matchday three of this season's Champions League.
The Villains will be strong favourites to extend their perfect record in the competition, having won their opening two matches.
But with Viking presenting somewhat of an unknown quantity, Villa must be prepared to be taken by surprise by the Norwegians.
Luckily for them, the sight of Gishamer in the middle brings with it a strong sign of victory for Emery's men.
How many games has Sebastian Gishamer refereed English sides in?
Gishamer is a 38-year-old referee who has largely spent his career officiating in Austrian football.
Austrian-born, he's been a FIFA international referee since 2019, and has a good amount of experience taking charge of UEFA club competition games.
Detailed via Transfermarkt, he's also overseen a handful of matches involving English teams.
He's refereed Nottingham Forest and Tottenham in the Europa League, whilst also being in the middle for a Champions League match involving Chelsea.
In addition to that, Gishamer also had the whistle for England men's senior international side in their 2-2 friendly draw against Belgium in 2024.
Across all four of those games at senior level, none of those English teams have lost with Gishamer as referee.
Spurs and Forest both won their matches against Elfsborg and Ferencvaros, whilst Chelsea drew with Qarabag in November last year.
Gishamer has also never sent any player from an English team off, and so Villa should be delighted to see him booked to have the whistle on Wednesday.
So, what kind of form are Viking in, and why have they recently sent a very strong 'don't underestimate us' message to the Villains?
One of Europe's best teams couldn't beat Viking
It's quite simple: you don't play Champions League football unless you're a good team in your own right.
Viking are in the competition on merit, after lifting Norway's Eliteserien title for the first time since 1991 last season - their ninth league win in their history.
They've only got seven league games to play in their 2026 campaign, and Morten Jensen's side currently sit joint-top with Bodo/Glimt on 56 points.
Viking have lost just once in their last 12 games in all competitions, and on 13th October, they earned one of their most famous results in their history.
On home soil, they drew 3-3 with Bayern Munich, as Herman Haugen's stoppage time equaliser earned them a memorable draw.
Per FotMob, they average 2.6 goals per game in the league this season, as well as conceding just 1.0 and deliver 7.6 accurate crosses.
Viking are extremely good from set-piece situations too, scoring an Eliteserien-leading 16 from them in 2026.
Emery's side can't afford to take these Viking raiders lightly, as they are very capable of turning up on these shores and taking something home with them.