ASTON VILLA remain firm favourites to win the UEFA Europa Conference League this season but in-form French side Lille will present a tricky hurdle in the quarter-finals.
With Unai Emery at the helm, a man who has lifted four European trophies, the bookies have fancied Aston Villa to go all the way ever since they demolished Hibernian 8-0 on aggregate in the play-off round to bring up a few bets for me.
They're now just 7/4 to lift the trophy, with Italian side Fiorentina next up at 3/1 in the betting, but fighting on two fronts in the final few months of the season could take a toll on Emery's squad.
Their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League has suffered a major blow in the last couple of games, with a 4-1 loss at Manchester City followed by a 3-3 draw at home to struggling Brentford.
That has seen them drop below Tottenham into fifth so Emery will be looking for a response back on the European stage when Lille come calling. But this could be a tougher game than the bookies are predicting with the French side on a decent run.
Paulo Fonseca's men have gone seven games without defeat and they've warmed up for the trip to England by claiming successive wins over Lens and Marseille.
Lille also topped their Conference League group and held PSG to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season so they have the players capable of rising to the big occasion.
How the bookies view it
Aston Villa are heavy favourites to go through at a best 8/15 with Paddy Power and the price only increases to 13/19 at VBet for a first-leg win. Lille are 17/4 at Bet365 for a win in England and 9/5 at VBet to reach the semis. A Villa Park stalemate pays 3/1 with BetMGM.
Head to head
These sides have faced off just once before in Europe, in the Intertoto Cup back in 2002. It was Lille who edged it, winning 2-0 at Villa Park after a 1-1 draw in France.
Players to watch
Ollie Watkins underlined his worth to Aston Villa at the weekend with a double in that draw with Brentford. He delivered for me by scoring against Ajax in the last round and is 13/10 at William Hill for another goal here.
Lille striker Jonathan David will fancy his chances against a defence that has looked leaky of late. A weekend goal against Marseille took the Canadian's tally for the season to 20 and he's 5/2 at Betway for anytime scorer.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Aston Villa conceding seven goals in their last two games it bodes well for action at both ends in this European clash and BTTS is a best 5/6 with Coral. Combining that with over 2.5 goals boosts the odds to 5/4 at the same firm.
First legs can often be a little cagey as the teams size each other up so backing most goals to come after the break looks a good option at 11/10 with William Hill.
Lille midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has collected nine yellow cards this season and betting on the Algerian going in the book again looks good once that market is priced up.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Aston Villa and Lille will be played on Apr 11, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Lille prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.