Aston Villa will visit Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. The burden is on both clubs to get off to a winning start in Poland. AZ Alkmaar and Zrinjski Mostar have joined these two teams in Group E.
Preview (Legia Warsaw vs. Aston Villa)
The idea of the Europa Conference League was that some teams would find it to be a nuisance. Due to the success of Roma and West Ham, clubs like Villa now see it as their path to being stalwarts in Europe. Villa is aiming for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season. With trips to Newcastle United and Liverpool already completed, nine points from five games shows they can keep that goal in sight. Unai Emery is a specialist in winning European trophies. They will be putting a lot of emphasis on winning this competition.
Drawing last season’s semi-finalists AZ is less than ideal, yet Emery will have total confidence that his players can replicate West Ham’s efforts from 2022-23. Villa thrashed Hibernian by an 8-0 aggregate scoreline in the playoff round. They won the away leg with five strikes without reply. They shipped eight goals in their defeats at Newcastle and Liverpool. Legia will be undoubtedly massive underdogs to achieve a result against a side of Villa’s quality. The vulnerability will only encourage them ahead of this match.
The Polish team overcame Ordabasy, Austria Vienna, and Midtjylland in qualification matches to get to this stage. They have conceded as many as 13 goals in each match. Legia trailed in each tie at some point. Head coach Kosta Runjaic watched as his club won a penalty shootout to advance to the group round. The Militarians have been far more steady at home, earning 14 points from six games. They have gone undefeated and allowed just three goals. Nevertheless, Legia welcomes a Villa team that scores freely at Stadion Wojska Polskiego despite having only managed to keep one clean sheet in their previous eight games across all competitions.
Team News
Emery has already hinted that Youri Tielemans will play in this competition. He is almost expected to change up his Villa XI for this match. With Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran hoping to play in the final third following his spectacular goal against Crystal Palace at the weekend, Clement Lenglet and Alex Moreno could play in defense. Emiliano Martinez will start on Thursday. He made three substitutions before the hour mark of the previous match against Piast Gliwice.
Tomas Pekhart, a former Tottenham Hotspur youth player who is now 34, has scored eight goals this season, and Gil Dias, who joined on loan from Stuttgart, may be given consideration for his first start. Legia has Jurgen Celhaka as a central midfield alternative should Runjaic decide to bring in some new blood and a defender. Legia will be excited for the chance to compete against the tournament favorites after their success in the qualifying rounds. However, we cannot ignore Villa performing in a manner consistent with what they did against Hibs and making a message in the process.
Legia Warsaw 1 – 4 Aston Villa
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