Fenerbahce welcome Aston Villa to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in their UEFA Europa League league-phase fixture on Thursday evening.Fenerbahce secured an impressive 4-0 win at Brann last time out, exte...
Fenerbahce welcome Aston Villa to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in their UEFA Europa League league-phase fixture on Thursday evening.
Fenerbahce secured an impressive 4-0 win at Brann last time out, extending their unbeaten run in the competition to five matches.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, registered a 2-1 win at Basel, ending the Swiss side’s 10-year unbeaten home run in the competition.
Match preview
Fenerbahce began their Europa League campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, but has since then remained unbeaten, collecting 11 points from five games.
Domenico Tedesco’s side kept their automatic qualification hopes alive with an impressive outing against Brann. They sit just two points adrift of eighth-placed Porto.
Since losing to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, Fenerbahce have lost just two games across all competitions.
Aston Villa head into this clash off the back of a disappointing result in the Premier League, losing 1-0 at home to Everton.
The Villans have picked up 15 points in six Europa League games — the joint-highest in the competition. They need three points to secure automatic qualification to the round of 16.
Manager Unai Emery will be aiming to secure their place in the round of 16 with a victory here.
Head-to-head
Both sides have met twice in the competition, with Villa prevailing on both occasions.
Team news
Archie Brown, Levent Mercan and Sebastian Szymanski are all injury concerns for Fenerbahce. Whether Youssef En-Nesyri will be available after his AFCON involvement remains to be seen.
Villa are without captain John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana, while Jadon Sancho is doubtful. New signing Alysson is ineligible.
Predicted line-ups
Fenerbahce (4-2-3-1): Ederson, Mert Muldur, Jayden Oosterwolde, Milan Skriniar, Nelson Semedo, Ismail Yuksek, Matteo Guendouzi, Kerem Akturkoglu, Marco Asensio, Anthony Musaba, Talisca.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Marco Bizot, Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne, Lamare Bogarde, Youri Tielemans; Evans Guessand, Morgan Rogers, Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins.
Prediction
We predict Fenerbahce to win 2-1.
Stats from whoscored.com & uefa.com
Category: General Sports
