Hibernian host Aston Villa with a place in the group stage of the Europa Conference League at stake. The Scottish team has advanced through the first two rounds of qualification, and Villa now enters the competition. They are marking their long-awaited comeback to Europe at Easter Road.
Preview (Hibernian vs Aston Villa)
Hibernian earned a berth in the final round of qualifying for the Europa Conference League after a memorable victory in Switzerland last week, and with it, a chance to see one of their favorite sons again. After bringing a 3-1 lead from the first leg in Edinburgh to Lucerne, Lee Johnson’s team needed only to scrape out a draw to advance against FC Luzern. Elie Youan’s early goal gave Hibs the lead, but Luzern quickly equalized and eventually took the lead. With fewer than 20 minutes remaining, Youan set up Martin Boyle to make it 2-2 and give Hibs the lead back.
The English club’s captain is now back at Easter Road. They thrived for three years before going south in 2018. McGinn is fondly recalled in Leith as a member of the Hibernian side who won the Scottish Cup in 2016. The first success in the competition in 114 years—and were promoted back to the Premiership. Hibs, who placed sixth last year, got off to a rough start this year, losing to St. Mirren and Motherwell. They suffered a humiliating Conference League setback in Andorra. But they also eliminated Inter d’Escaldes and Luzern from the European competition.
Aston Villa had a difficult start to the 2023–24 season after a fairly successful preseason. They overcame the setback by thrashing a sluggish Everton team on Sunday It was only days after losing 5-1 to Newcastle United. At Villa Park, a fired-up McGinn scored the game’s first goal before Douglas Luiz extended Villa’s lead from the penalty spot. Villa eventually won 4-0 to earn their first Premier League points of the season. However, mercurial playmaker Philippe Coutinho left the game hurt, joining crucial players Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia in the treatment area at Bodymoor Heath. This put Unai Emery’s highly-paid team’s strength to the test.
Team News
It is unclear how Unai Emery will assemble his Aston Villa team for Wednesday’s opening match due to an increasing number of absences. Villa experimented with a three-man defense throughout the preseason and might do so again. Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendia, Phillipe Coutinho, Jacob Ramsey, and Alex Moreno are all unavailable to Villa’s head coach in addition to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia, who are also out for the remainder of the season. Jhon Duran scored a goal during his final injury comeback appearance at the weekend.
To lead their front line, Hibs should look to Dutch striker Dylan Vente. Vente should be able to play despite having a bloodied nose from Sunday’s cup victory. He scored the game-winning goal. He will probably be accompanied by either Christian Doidge or Adam le Fondre. Dylan Levitt, a midfielder for Wales, had an ankle injury last week in Lucerne and is expected to miss at least the first leg of the match due to possible ligament damage. Josh Campbell should be able to play some role despite a shoulder injury.
Aston Villa is clearly the favorite to advance after the second leg next week due to the enormous financial gap. Hibs will not make things simple for the Premier League team. The Hibees have won both of their qualifying games played at home thus far. Moving up in class will see them defeated by a club with a wealth of European experience.
Hibernian 1 – 2 Aston Villa
For more football previews, click here
