Aston Villa v Lille: Line-ups, stats and preview

After a run of one win and five defeats in eight domestic matches, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery perhaps has more cause than usual to be wary of protecting a 1-0 Europa League last-16 lead at home to in-form Lille on Thursday.

While Villa’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday was their third in a row in the Premier League, their next opponents are on a six-match unbeaten run in France and are fifth in Ligue 1 after winning 2-1 at Rennes on the same day.

“Our respect for this competition is massive, and so is our respect for the team they are,” said Emery, whose side won the first encounter through Ollie Watkins’ goal and could feature returning captain John McGinn from the start at Villa Park.

“In their league, they are really being fantastic. I respect Lille a lot. With [head coach] Bruno Genesio, they are being so, so competitive.

“They’re an experienced team with young players [and] players of huge potential. The coach is very experienced and they have some players with a lot of experience in Europe and at the highest level.”

Lille have the third-best home record in Ligue 1 and overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit by beating Crvena zvezda 2-0 in Belgrade to reach this stage.

“We have to keep going,” said forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo, acknowledging the “very important” task ahead of Lille.

“The coach [has told us] that we need to be very intense from the start. We put the pressure on [against Rennes] and scored very quickly. We also defended very well.”

Former Rennes and Lyon boss Senesio said Lille displayed “combinations that we hadn’t seen for some time” in their latest victory.

“I saw players liberated offensively, with interesting sequences following high recoveries or on counter-attacks,” he added, via Lille’s website.

“When we work together, we’re a team capable of great things. Perhaps we lost that at the beginning of the year, which cost us dearly. We’re on the right track and we can be hopeful.”

Aston Villa v Lille team news

Right-back Matty Cash (calf) and midfielders Boubacar Kamara (knee) and Youri Tielemans (ankle) are out for Villa, as are wingers Emiliano Buendia and Harvey Elliott with knocks. Ross Barkley is ineligible.

Lille defender Ousmane Toure and striker Hamza Igamane have knee injuries. Wingers Ethan Mbappe (thigh) and Osame Sahraoui (groin) and goalkeeper Marc-Aurele Caillard (elbow) are also sidelined.

Aston Villa v Lille predicted line-ups

Aston Villa starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Lamare Bogarde, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Amadou Onana, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Jadon Sancho, Ollie Watkins

Lille starting XI: Berke Ozer, Tiago Santos, Chancel Mbemba, Aissa Mandi, Romain Perraud, Nabil Bentaleb, Benjamin Andre, Gaetan Perrin, Hakon Arnar Haraldsson, Felix Correia, Olivier Giroud

Where to watch Aston Villa v Lille: TV channel, online live streams

Kick-off on Thursday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and the Discovery Plus app.

TNT Sports costs £30.99 a month, including Eurosport and entertainment and available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

From March 26, TNT Sports streaming will switch from Discovery Plus to HBO Max.

A lovely assist from Matias Fernandez-Pardo for Hakon Haraldsson’s goal✌️#SRFCLOSC

pic.twitter.com/2Mh6ceZAYn

— LOSC (@LOSC_EN) March 16, 2026

Aston Villa v Lille stats

• These teams have met in two previous ties across four matches: Lille won their 2002 Intertoto Cup semi‑final 3-1 on aggregate, while Villa progressed from the 2023/24 Europa Conference League quarter‑finals after a 3-3 aggregate draw and penalty shoot‑out victory
• Villa have won three of their five previous two-legged ties against French teams and four of their five previous home matches against French clubs (L1)
• The Villans have won 15 of their last 17 European home matches (D1 L1), including each of the last seven.
• They are aiming to reach a European quarter-final for a third consecutive season, having beaten Ajax 4-0 on aggregate in the 2023/24 Conference League round of 16 and Club Brugge 6-1 on aggregate in last season’s Champions League round of 16
• In two previous two‑legged European ties in which they have won the first leg away by a one‑goal margin, Aston Villa have progressed once and exited once
• Lille have lost nine of their last 11 matches against English teams (W1 D1) and six of their last nine Europa League matches overall (W3)
• Their last four two-legged ties against English opposition have been unsuccessful
• This is Lille’s first Europa League round of 16 appearance since the 2009/10 campaign, when they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Liverpool
• Les Dogues have advanced from five of their last seven two-legged European ties.
• They have won one and lost four of their five previous two‑legged European ties after losing the first leg at home by a one‑goal margin, with the sole success coming this season against Crvena Zvezda in the Europa League knockout play-off round, overturning a 1-0 defeat with a 2-0 extra‑time win

Aston Villa v Lille prediction

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