Ceemo

Not on the bench Saturday. Another injury?

Lille will almost certainly will be in the Champions League next season so if we want to compete at that level, this will be the sort of the game ahead of us next season. And yes, I'm a football fan just as much as being a Villa fan at the end of the day with a keen interest in the sport in general and love to keep up to date and watch other leagues/players in general. Have only really got down to watching Lille fully since the draw was made in fairness, but would have seen them here and there throughout the season. As for the NFL, for us here, it is perfect to follow on Sunday evenings throughout the dark winter.

Lille playing Marseille now. Marseille in the quarter-finals of the Europa League so a good barometer of where Lille are at the moment. UPDATE: 0-0 at half-time almost predictably. Pretty boring watch. Lille looking the likelier to break the deadlock. Zhegrova had a excellent chance saved and Alexsandro Ribeiro had a good header tipped over by Lopez. Plenty of long balls over the top from Lille looking for the pace of the wingers and then sitting in a low block when Marseille attack. Very little play in the middle of the pitch. 1-0 Lille. Loose pass by Marseille intercepted by David who is fouled in the box. He steps up and put Lille in front almost out of nowhere. 2-0 Lille. Lille have been ok, but Marseille have been absolutely terrible. Unable to make simple 5-yard passes. Cabella pounces on another mistake and sticks it in the top corner. 2-1. Freak goal rebounds off in somehow as the defenders got into a terrible tangle. Come from nowhere for Marseille. 3-1 Lille. Another mistake by Marseille. This time a poor clearance, and Lille work it well on the right before Gudmundsson finishes it. Finished 3-1. Lille just sat and waited for the Marseille mistakes and came alive when they did. Lille played almost exclusively on the counter-attack the whole game and it worked like a charm. Zhegrova and David are quite clearly their best players. They come alive in that final third and have loads of spark. To beat them for me, you need to get around their workmanlike midfield in Bentaleb and Andre who protect the back four. Villa need physicality in there which McGinn should provide and get at that back four.

Yeah Palace would be a very good comparison in that certainly under Hogdson they didn't seem to be very much a big risk-taking side. David is a better striker than what Palace have at the moment though and Lille are better defensively for sure, although it hard to compare the two leagues. The French League certainly this season has been very, very defensive on the whole and so Lille are not only ones in that aspect. You look at Lille in Ligue 1, and they have scored just 39 goals from 27 games but only conceded 24. They have had a couple of 3-0's and a 4-0, but generally their games have been tight. In Europe, in what was a easy group, they scored 10 from their 6 games but only conceded twice. They beat Sturm Graz comfortably in the knockout stage and so haven't really had a challenge in Europe. I'd expect them to come to Villa Park next week and sit back with a low block and soak up the pressure and counter with the front 3. Paulo Fonseca is a serious coach and Emery will have his work cut out for him.

The French Authorities towards the end of March changed the fixtures for PSG and Lille to help them in Europe. Lille were set to face Marseille before us and then Monaco between the first and second leg. Two massive game for them in the chase for Champions League football. They have allowed Lille to postpone the Monaco game until later in the month and so they now have a week between both legs whilst we will have to face Arsenal. It certainly makes things more difficult. Have watched Lille's last two games against Brest and Lens. Very good side. Press very well and play very controlled football. They aren't particularly an exciting side and aren't going to hammer you as well as unlikely to get hammered. Outside David, their squad don't score enough goals. First game against Brest, they were the better for most of it but conceded a soft goal and had to settle for a point. They pretty much dominated throughout against Lens in the North Derby, until Lens scored late on and they had a little bit of panic but deservedly won. They face Marseille on Friday night in another big game. Chevalier looks a good prospect in goal, whilst centre-back Yoro is linked with some of Europe's biggest clubs. Captain Benjamin Andre is 33 but is probably playing as well as ever in midfield, alongside former Spurs and Newcastle player, Bentaleb. Another former Newcastle player in Cabella is on the books but would be unlikely to start. David is well known up top and Zhegrova looks a very good player and your typical winger.

No win in 12 for Everton now.

Poor, poor Sheffield United but amazing finish by Muniz.

Fulham fans were probably dining off the win against Spurs for 2 weeks and then return to losing to Sheffield United. That's football for you.

Unlucky for Burnley as Mudryk had lost control of the ball. Terrible decision and then a red card to boot.

Despite supposedly being only out for a few weeks, there is still no sign of Nedeljkovic playing for Red Star. According to this article, Villa found a hip issue after a heavy game load at such a young age. https://izprveruke.rs/misterija-zvana-kosta-nedeljkovic/?feed_id=58603&_unique_id=660463f02c025

Of course they do, but it's a bid mad since Olsen hasn't been a first-choice goalkeeper at his clubs for about 5 years, but obviously the Swedish goalkeeping situation must be in a bad way. Looking at it, it seems like former Villa youth keeper, Viktor Johansson is their second-choice at the moment.

Fair is fair. Kept a clean sheet against Albania and did what he asked to do. At least he has got two games under his belt if the worst becomes the worst.

Started for Sweden tonight against Portugal. Conceded 5. Not much he could do about any of them to be fair, but no idea how he still starts for Sweden.

Very innocuous. Hopefully not too serious.

Betano currently sponsor Braga and Sporting Lisbon

Massive news. Doubles the current deal but is still another gambling sponsor. 2-year-deal which ends when the ban on gambling sponsorship starts.

West Ham by comparison had a much easier run last season. AEK Larnaca, Gent, AZ and then Fiorentina in the final. A much tougher competition this season.

A return to Lille for Digne who he began his career with.

Tough, tough draws. Home in the first leg not ideal either. Lille are a good side and are very good defensively with a excellent striker in Jonathan David. Tricky wingers in Zhegrova and Haraldsson. They face the same issues as us in that they are in 4th at the moment and are chasing Champions League football. They have two key games playing Marseille and Monaco around both legs which is good for us. Time to get revenge for the Intertoto Cup defeat in 2002.

Liverpool get the easiest draws they could have wished for and should stroll to the final without much fuss.

Like the Champions League, the semi-final draw takes place straight after and the 'final draw' for who gets the home dressing room.

Just to round-up the results from tonight: Aston Villa 4-0 Ajax - 4-0 on aggregate Club Brugge 3-0 Molde - 4-2 on aggregate Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-6 Olympiacos - 5-7 on aggregate Lille 1-1 Sturm Graz - 4-1 on aggregate PAOK 5-1 Dinamo Zagreb - 5-3 on aggregate Fiorentina 1-1 Maccabi Haifa - 5-4 on aggregate Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Servette - 0-0 on aggregate, Viktoria Plzen won on penalties Fenerbahce 0-1 Union Saint-Gilloise - 3-1 on aggregate One of the most amazing comebacks of all time from Olympiacos. 4-1 defeat at home in the first leg, they somehow hammered Tel Aviv. PAOK were another side to turn around their tie as they trashed Dinamo Zagreb with a terrific display. Club Brugge are another team not to be taken lightly as they beat Molde convincingly. Lille strolled through in second gear against Sturm Graz. Fiorentina were made to sweat at the end against Haifa but were deserved winners. Plzen overcame Servette after 210 minutes without a goal on penalties, whilst Union Saint-Gilloise's impressive season includes a victory in Istanbul, but last weeks damage could not be reversed. So draw tomorrow at 1pm. We play Arsenal away 3 days after the first leg and Bournemouth 3 days after the second leg. Personally I would like to avoid Fenerbahce for a couple of reasons. Trip to Turkey would not be ideal at this part of the season and the hostile atmosphere would not be welcome and they are a decent side. PAOK and Olympiacos similarly would be not ideal away trips even if we should beat them over the 2 legs. Fiorentina and Lille would be the hardest draws on paper probably, whilst Club Brugge are a good side and have a £30 million future Premier League striker in their side. Viktoria Plzen for me would be the best draw even if they have been excellent in Europe this season.

Faced 3 penalties this season and all 3 have gone in. According to transfermarkt including youth games, he has faced 20 penalties, with 2 saves.

That's her gone in the summer.

Forgot as well that Fenerbahce signed Bonucci in the January transfer window, so it's a mad squad really of 30 year-old+ players. Would be horrible to play them with it being a long journey to Turkey and also the hostile atmosphere. Lille are real dark horses for this competition. Very good defensively with 18 year-old Leny Yoro a potential superstar and a bit of class up top. Paulo Fonseca is also a very good coach. Lots of decent teams in general in this competition but no world beaters for sure.