Ceemo

Olympiacos and Fenerbahce are 10 minutes from penalties.

If that second yellow card stands for Martinez he will miss the first leg of the semi-final as he was also booked in the first leg.

Nevertheless we wouldn't be anywhere near it without him.

Cash still out and Lenglet out with a small problem according to Emery. Chambers not registered in the Conference League squad so Villa have no senior back-ups.

Guess that if one of the centre-backs or Konsa has a problem, then Kesler-Hayden would move in at right-back. Possibly Bogarde on the bench?

Not on the bench Saturday. Another injury?

10 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

This is incredible stuff. Thank you, seriously. It's fascinating. Sounds like we're up against a dangerous and very implacable opponent. (But I am also trying to work out how someone could know so much about French football, live in Ireland, be Villa, and ... have a Cleveland Browns avatar? )

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.

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

Quote

Coach Stojković does not know where his right back is Where and what is Kosta Nedeljković, a talented footballer who marked the winter transfer window of Red Star, doing? Nedeljković was on the list of selectors for the Serbian national team this March, but even the selector Dragan Stojković Pixi was not sure about his situation. - I don't know where the guy is... Do you know where he is? Is it in Belgrade or Birmingham? They don't tell us anything. We do not know. Just as the media don't know, we don't. I know he has a problem with his hip, what is it? It's a shame, I really wanted them to see him here today - Pixi said before the already played matches with Russia and Cyprus. Nedeljković was injured at the beginning of February, since then he has not been in competition for Vladan Milojević's team. He was in the second part of the preparations in Cyprus, but since then he has been completely forgotten by the media. Unofficially, at the specialist examinations that were carried out afterwards in England, it was established that there was a heavy load due to a large number of games and that the reinforcement of Aston Villa has a hip problem. In any case, Kosta Nedeljkovic is training hard in Belgrade and is preparing for the summer when he will move to Birmingham and hopefully play for Aston Villa. It remains to be seen whether he will perform for Crvena Zvezda by then.

2 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

Because ppl who have the full picture regard him as the best Swedish GK?

Personally I don't know, don't know enough about the alternatives.

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.

7 minutes ago, JoshVilla said:

Exactly this. People (usually blosers and 12 year old fans on twitter from other clubs) like to shit on the Conference League and say it's not a proper trophy, but there's some good teams in there. This is a proper competition now.

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.