Ceemo

Still injured?

Would be useful for some squad rotation with the amount of games ahead.

Tim isn't included in the Conference League squad either. Pity, as he could have got some minutes in it. Not sure what the injury he has at the moment but at least he is around the squad for League and domestic cup games.

Premier League squad has been confirmed:

You have to have at least 8 homegrown players to name a full 25 man squad. Villa have 7 but only name 23 anyway. Duran is the only senior player included in the under-21's. Mings and Buendia are named despite no chance of playing before January.

23 Squad players (*Home grown)
Bailey, Leon Patrick 
Buendia Stati, Emiliano 
Cash, Matthew Stuart*
Chambers, Calum*
Dendoncker, Leander 
Diaby, Moussa 
Digne, Lucas 
Francisco Torres, Pau 
Kamara, Boubacar Bernard 
Konsa, Ezri Ngoyo*
Lenglet, Clement Nicolas Laurent 
Martinez Romero, Damian Emiliano*
McGinn, John 
Mings, Tyrone Deon*
Moreno Lopera, Alexandre 
Olsen, Robin 
Ramsey, Jacob*
Santos Silva, Diego Carlos 
Soares De Paulo, Douglas Luiz 
Tielemans, Youri Marion 
Traore, Bertrand Isidore 
Watkins, Oliver George Arthur*
Zaniolo, Nicolo 

U21 players (Contract and Scholars)
Afoka, Chisom Kenneth 
Alcock, Todd Rees 
Asante-Boakye, Maxwell Kwesi 
Barber, Jayden Christopher 
Barnes, Mikell Nathan Leon 
Barry, Louie Mark 
Bogarde, Lamare Trenton Chansey 
Borland, Aidan Gerald 
Brannigan, Cole Patrick 
Broggio, Benjamin David 
Burchall, Ajani Alexander Edward 
Carroll, Theodore James 
Chrisene, Benjamin Joshua 
Duerden, Archie 
Duran Palacios, Jhon Jader 
Ealing, Frankie 
Edwards, I-Lani 
Feeney, Joshua Philip 
Hammond, Alexander 
Hart, Taylor-Jay Phillip 
Hayden, Kaine Kesler 
Iroegbunam, Timothy Emeka 
Jimoh, Jamaldeen 
Katsukunya, Thierry Alfred Farai 
Kellyman, Omari Jamian 
Lewis, Samuel Jack 
Lott, Max Matthew 
Lutz, Charlie Ethan 
Lynch, Luka John 
Marschall, Filip 
McDowell, Jack 
McWilliams, Ashton Tyler 
Mitchell, Dylan Reiss 
Moore, Kobei 
Moreland, Calum Francis 
Mulley, Trai-Varn Divinche 
Munroe, Finley Christopher Ryan 
O'Reilly, Aaron Christopher 
O'Reilly, Tommi Dylan 
Onuchukwu, Abube-Calvin 
Patterson, Travis 
Pavey, Charlie James 
Pierre, Kyrie Jay Victor 
Proctor, Sam Adrian 
Revan, Sebastian Emmanuel 
Richards, Rico Dean Scott 
Rowe, Edward James 
Rowe, Triston Tye 
Simpson, Ewan Mark 
Smith, Kerr David 
Swinkels, Sil Laurentius 
Timson, Nile Jordan Joseph 
Wilson, Rory 
Wright, James Thomas 
Young, Kadan Christophe 
Zych, Oliwier 

Seems like he won't be featuring in the Conference League group stage.

UEFA rules are that you can name any players under 21 provided they have been been at the club for at least two years. Kellyman was only signed in March 2022 and would therefore have to be registered in the main squad, but all the spots are taken after Lenglet joined to replace Mings.

The kickoff times have suited us really well actually. All the away games are at 5:45pm, which means the players will be home a bit earlier which will aid recovery for the following League games on the Sunday.

With all the home games starting at 8pm, there should be good atmospheres compared to an earlier kick-off.

26 minutes ago, slovenian said:

nope, they can play group games at home

Have to say I'm amazed by that as they only have 1 stand. Presume they must be bringing in some temporary stands, as UEFA would usually be quite finicky about allowing certain grounds into their competitions.

Zrinjski Mostar match likely to be moved to Sarajevo, due to their ground.

44 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

Europa League Draw is taking place. TV scheduling and kick off time wise we'll be 'paired' with one of Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham. I think it will mean when we are at home they'll be away and that sort of thing for a Thursday night.

 

Yep, looks like we were essentially paired with Liverpool, i.e, same kick-off times as them, so will be placed in one of Groups E-H.

Going by that TV criteria, we definitely now can't draw Club Brugge, Lille or Lugano.

For me the worst draw for football reasons would be:
Frankfurt, Besiktas and Nordsjaelland

Worst draw for travel reasons would be:
Fenerbahce, Astana and one of Cukaricki/Ballkani/Zrinjski

Best draw for football reasons:
Ferencvaros, HJK and Breidablik
 

Thursday 31 August 2023
UEFA Europa League – Play-off Round Aggregate Scores (Losers enter Conference League)
Slavia Prague (Cze) 3-2 Zorya Luhansk (Ukr)
Olympiacos (Gre) 6-1 Cukaricki (Srb)
Union Saint-Gilloise (Bel) 3-0 Lugano (Sui)
Ludogorets (Bul) 2-4 Ajax (Ned)
BK Hacken (Swe) 5-3 Aberdeen (Sco)
LASK (Aut) 3-2 Zrinjski (Bih)
KI (Fro) 2-3 Sheriff Tiraspol (Mda)
Olimpija (Svn) 1-3 Qarabag (Aze)
Slovan Bratislava (Svk) 4-7 Aris Limassol (Cyp)
Dinamo Zagreb (Cro) 4-5 Sparta Prague (Cze)
UEFA Europa Conference League - Champions Path – Play-off Round Aggregate Scores
Ballkani (Kos) 4-2 BATE Borisov (Bls)
Zalgiris (Ltu) 0-7 Ferencvaros (Hun)
Struga (Mkd) 0-2 Breidablik (Isl)
Farul Constanta (Rou) 2-3 HJK (Fin)
Astana (Kaz) 2-1 Partizani (Alb)
UEFA Europa Conference League - Main Path – Play-off Round Aggregate Scores
Levski Sofia (Bul) 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt (Ger)
Gent (Bel) 4-1 APOEL (Cyp)
Sepsi (Rou) 4-5 Bodo/Glimt (Nor)
Tobol (Kaz) 1-5 Viktoria Plzen (Cze)
Midtjylland (Den) 4-4p Legia Warsaw (Pol) - Legia won 6-5 on penalties
Lille (Fra) 3-2 Rijeka (Cro)
Genk (Bel) p2-2 Adana Demirspor (Tur) - Genk won 5-4 on penalties
Fenerbahce (Tur) 6-1 Twente (Ned)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr) 2-4 Besiktas (Tur)
AZ (Ned) p4-4 Brann (Nor) - AZ won 6-5 on penalties
Rapid Vienna (Aut) 1-2 Fiorentina (Ita)
Hearts (Sco) 1-6 PAOK (Gre)
Nordsjaelland (Den) 6-0 Partizan (Srb)
Osasuna (Esp) 3-4 Club Brugge (Bel)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Isr) 5-2 Celje (Svn)
Hibernian (Sco) 0-8 Aston Villa (Eng)
Spartak Trnava (Svk) 3-2 Dnipro-1 (Ukr)

So the 32 for the group stage is finally set. A few scares for the other bigger teams in the competition, but they all got through. Frankfurt left it late to eventually knock out Levski, while Lille had to go to extra time to get past Rijeka. Last year's semi-finalist, AZ Alkmaar went to penalties with Brann before advancing, while Fiorentina got a very debatable penalty to see off Rapid Vienna at the death. The big match between Osasuna and Club Brugge went one way and then the other before Club Brugge eventually sneaked into tomorrow's draw.
In the Europa League, Dinamo Zagreb were surprise losers against Sparta Prague and will now enter the Conference League with the highest coefficient after Eintracht Frankfurt.

Legia have won on the penalties. Here are the final pots for tomorrow's draw.

Legia Warsaw and Midtjylland now going to penalties which will decide the final team in the group stage.

Wednesday 23rd August 2023
UEFA Europa Conference League - Main Path - Play-off Round, First Leg
Spartak Trnava (Svk) 1-1 Dnipro-1 (Ukr)
Hibernian (Sco) 0-5 Aston Villa (Eng)

Thursday 24th August 2023
UEFA Europa League – Play-off Round, First Leg (Losers enter Conference League)
Slavia Prague (Cze) 2-0 Zorya Luhansk (Ukr)
Olympiacos (Gre) 3-1 Cukaricki (Srb)
Union Saint-Gilloise (Bel) 2-0 Lugano (Sui)
Ludogorets (Bul) 1-4 Ajax (Ned)
BK Hacken (Swe) 2-2 Aberdeen (Sco)
LASK (Aut) 2-1 Zrinjski (Bih)
KI (Fro) 1-1 Sheriff Tiraspol (Mda)
Olimpija (Svn) 0-2 Qarabag (Aze)
Slovan Bratislava (Svk) 2-1 Aris Limassol (Cyp)
Dinamo Zagreb (Cro) 3-1 Sparta Prague (Cze)
UEFA Europa Conference League - Champions Path – Play-off Round, First Leg
Ballkani (Kos) 4-1 BATE Borisov (Bls)
Zalgiris (Ltu) 0-4 Ferencvaros (Hun)
Struga (Mkd) 0-1 Breidablik (Isl)
Farul Constanta (Rou) 2-1 HJK (Fin)
Astana (Kaz) 1-0 Partizani (Alb)
UEFA Europa Conference League - Main Path – Play-off Round, First Leg
Levski Sofia (Bul) 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt (Ger)
Gent (Bel) 2-0 APOEL (Cyp)
Sepsi (Rou) 2-2 Bodo/Glimt (Nor)
Tobol (Kaz) 1-2 Viktoria Plzen (Cze)
Midtjylland (Den) 3-3 Legia Warsaw (Pol)
Lille (Fra) 2-1 Rijeka (Cro)
Genk (Bel) 2-1 Adana Demirspor (Tur)
Fenerbahce (Tur) 5-1 Twente (Ned)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukr) 2-3 Besiktas (Tur)
AZ (Ned) 1-1 Brann (Nor)
Rapid Vienna (Aut) 1-0 Fiorentina (Ita)
Hearts (Sco) 1-2 PAOK (Gre)
Nordsjaelland (Den) 5-0 Partizan (Srb)
Osasuna (Esp) 1-2 Club Brugge (Bel)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Isr) 4-1 Celje (Svn)

So with the losers of the Europa League play-off round entering the Conference League group stage, the favourites in pretty much all of those ties have won tonight. Aberdeen are looking good for a place in the Eruopa League group stage, while the likes of Ajax and Olympiacos should have comfortable routes to that Group Stage.
Very interesting night in the Conference League. Frankfurt were pegged back late on by Levski but should win at home next week. Lille were behind for a while but go to Rijeka with a goal advantage. Fenerbahce have been impressive all summer and proved it with a huge win over Twente. Besiktas picked up a super win in Bucharest against Dynamo Kyiv to be favourites next week. Our old adversaries, Rapid Vienna got the better of Fiorentina with a excellent rear-guard effort. Hearts lost late on at home to PAOK, while Club Brugge got the better of Osasuna in the tie of the round, despite being on the back foot for long periods.

Spanish ref for the game: Ricardo De Burgos. Has done Barcelona vs Real Madrid a couple of times but it perhaps more well known here for sending off Vinicius Junior in the away game at Valencia last season, shortly after Vinicius Junior complained of getting racist abuse from the Valencia fans.

Seeing those Paqueta allegations, I've just gone back into the match thread of that game in March of when he got booked.

Quote

Should be paquetas 2nd or 3rd yellow

Quote

Should've been his second yellow there, Paqueta.

Quote

Should be paquetas 3rd yellow.

Sounds like someone was trying desperately to get a yellow card and it was also the only yellow card in that match, so the ref must have been very lenient throughout.

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

Do we know if the 1st leg will be on tv?

Should find out in the next couple of days. The TV rights for the Conference League are not centralised at this stage, so it could be on any channel. I'd imagine TNT will go for it.

6 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Say that again?

£22.5m plus 15.5m add-ins to buy, plus the £6.35m loan fee.  So £44m if we buy and he does well?

So using a currency converter, it's £4.27 million loan + £1.1 million optional add on probably depending on appearances.

£19.21 million obligation to buy at the end of the season with Galatasaray having a 10% sell on clause.

So if everything goes well, the deal would cost us £24.6m.

Villa's European squad is being registered tonight, so he should now be eligible to face Hibernian.

He has returned to Bristol Rovers on loan again for the season.

9 minutes ago, juteface said:

Should really have put this to bed, they've done everything but score. Getting soaked in Tallaght here so I'm hoping for a win to make it worth the while!

And penalties it is! Come on Derry.

Awful miss from Derry in injury time to win the tie against Tobol of Kazakhstan. Game is gone now to extra-time.

Yep Luzern have been really poor and they are losing their discipline now as well.

It's off to Edinburgh.

Looked like a handball by Stevenson blocking the header from a Luzern corner. Would probably have been a penalty had VAR been around.

Hibs score. 2-2!