Aston Villa host Zrinjski Mostar at Villa Park in Group E of 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Victory would see Villa move off the foot of the group unless AZ Alkmaar beat Legia Warsaw elsewhere, whilst Zrinjski Mostar can stay top with a win.
Team News
Tim Iroegbunam could make his first appearance of the season for Aston Villa after he spent the summer rebuilding his match fitness, following surgery on an unspecified injury.
Tyrone Mings (knee), Alex Moreno (fitness), Leon Bailey (hamstring) and Emiliano Buendia (ACL) remain ruled out.
Zrinjski Mostar have no fresh injury concerns to report after their domestic 2-0 win over Igman.
When is Kick-Off?
Aston Villa host Zrinjski Mostar at Villa Park on Thursday 5 October in a 8pm BST kick-off, live on TNT Sport 2 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Aston Villa’s first-ever meeting against Zrinjski Mostar in all competitions.
- Zrinjski Mostar are playing away to English opposition for the very first time across all competitions.
- Aston Villa are facing Bosnian opposition for the first time in their history in a competitive fixture.
- Nemanja Bilbija has scored in two of his last three appearances for Zrinjski Mostar in all UEFA competitions.
- Three of Douglas Luiz’s four goals for Villa this season have been scored from the penalty spot.
Prediction
After receiving a shock awakening away to Legia Warsaw a fortnight ago, Villa know that they can’t walk this group but they will come here with confidence after ruthlessly demolishing Brighton last weekend so I do hope that we see more of the same here.
Zrinjski Mostar however can’t be underestimated attack wise after the Bosnian club stunned AZ Alkmaar in their opening game, yet their defence seems there for the taking with just one clean sheet in Europe this season which should certainly make for a fun game.
Villa however are often difficult to beat at home and if they play like they did at the weekend, I can’t see them losing this otherwise they face an uphill struggle – which would be surprising given that they’ve a top European specialist in Unai Emery.
Prediction: Aston Villa 3-0 Zrinjski Mostar
Result: Aston Villa 1-0 Zrinjski Mostar
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