Aston Villa face RB Salzburg in their final league phase match of the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League.
Victory would see Villa finish top if Lyon fail to win elsewhere, although they could still finish above the French club on goal difference with a huge win – which would involve outscoring Lyon by ideally four or five goals at minimum.
RB Salzburg can sneak into the unseeded knockout play-off spots with a win if results elsewhere go in their favour.
Team News
New signing, Tammy Abraham is ineligible for Villa but will be available for the knockout stages when he can be registered to their squad.
Youri Tielemans is ruled out with an ankle injury which he suffered in their 2-0 victory at Newcastle in the Premier League.
John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, and Ross Barkley remain absent due to knee injuries.
RB Salzburg have no fresh injury concerns to report as Takumu Kawamura and John Mellber both remain sidelined with knee injuries.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host RB Salzburg at Villa Park on Thursday 29 January at 8pm GMT, live on TNT Sports 2 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Aston Villa’s first-ever meeting against RB Salzburg in all competitions.
- RB Salzburg are making their first competitive trip to Villa.
- Three of Villa’s five home goals in the league phase were scored by Donyell Malen, although he is now on loan at AS Roma.
- RB Salzburg are yet to win away on English soil in all UEFA competitions (D1, L3).
Prediction
Having clinically dispatched Newcastle in a ruthless smash-and-grab counter-attacking display, Villa certainly have the confidence back in them but with a top-eight spot, Unai Emery has to decide whether to go for the top spot which looks unlikely given Lyon’s form and goal difference.
If he decides to just settle for the top eight then I expect him to rotate his squad and given some of the fringe players a chance, but Lyon are facing an in-form PAOK so there is a chance of them slipping up and Villa claiming the top knockout seeding if they win here.
RB Salzburg meanwhile have won just two of their league phase matches so they will need a huge performance and luck to get into the knockouts, starting with a clinical attack and solid defence which does feel like a tough ask given their struggles this season in Europe.
On that note, I expect Villa to win this routinely irrespective of what team Emery decides to field but RB Salzburg will have the more urgency as their fate is out of their hands.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 RB Salzburg
Result: Aston Villa 3-2 RB Salzburg
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