Aston Villa To Make Champions League Debut
After last season’s fourth place Premier League finish, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa will make their UEFA Champions League debut on Tuesday. Villa head to Switzerland for a match against BSC Young Boys. Before we reveal the Young Boys vs Aston Villa best bet, we’ll give punters the information they need to know ahead of this Champions League opener.
While Villa have never played in the Champions League, they won the European Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1982. Plus, Emery is no stranger to success in UEFA competitions.
The Spanish manager has won the UEFA Europa League four times and is the winningest coach in the history of the competition.
Young Boys vs Aston Villa Match Info:
- Location: Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland
- Date & Time: Tuesday, September 17th, 12:30 p.m. ET
- TV: Paramount+ (USA)
Young Boys vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head
- This is the first-ever meeting between Young Boys and Aston Villa
- However, Villa boss Emery did manage to lead previous club Villarreal to two victories over Young Boys in the 2021-22 Europa League.
Tale of Two Young Boys
- Champions League Form: W,W
- Form (All Competitions): W,D,W,W,W
Somehow, someway, BSC Young Boys managed to progress through Champions League Qualifiers even though they sit in last place in the Swiss Super League. Regardless, this will be BSC Young Boys’ third Champions League group stage appearance in the last four seasons.
Young Boys won the Swiss Super League in 2023-24 to advance to the Champions League Play-off. Young Boys then defeated Galatasaray 4-2, on aggregate, to progress to the group stage.
While their cup form has been solid, their league form has been a massive cause for concern.
Firing coach Raphael Wicky towards the end of last season has backfired, at least in the short term. New boss Patrick Rahmen lost his first three league matches at the helm and is learning on the job.
Since the losing streak, Young Boys have put together a seven game unbeaten run, though. They’ve beaten Galatasaray, progressed to the third round of the Swiss Cup and drawn three straight games in the Super League.
Silvere Ganvoula has scored three goals in the Super League, while Joel Monteiro scored twice in the first leg against Galatasaray.
With goalkeeper David von Ballmoos back from injury, Rahmen should have all of his key players available for this UCL opener.
Long Wait Over for Villa Fans
- Premier League Form: W,W,L,W
Tuesday will mark Aston Villa’s first appearance in top tier European competition for over 40 years. Unfortunately, one of the heroes in their 1982 European Cup victory, Gary Shaw, passed away on Monday.
Villa will be motivated to kick off their first-ever Champions League campaign with a victory and they have a favorable opener.
In fact, Aston Villa’s Champions League fixtures aren’t too unkind overall. Five of their eight matches are against the likes of Young Boys, Bologna, Club Brugge, Monaco and Celtic.
Villa have also won three of their four Premier League matches to open up the campaign. Saturday’s Aston Villa vs Everton match was a wild one, as hosts Villa overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3-2.
After conceding twice in the first half, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins fired home his first two goals of the campaign.
Then, in the 76th minute, substitute Jhon Duran rifled home a long range screamer that made the Villa Park crowd erupt.
While Villa’s players may not have much UCL experience, Emery has loads of it. He led Villarreal to the 2021-22 Semifinal while knocking out Juventus and Bayern Munich.
However, he’ll have to make do without the injured Leon Bailey, Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara and Jaden Philogene against Young Boys.
Young Boys vs Aston Villa Best Bet, Predictions
Blown leads have been a common theme for Young Boys this season. They led 2-0 against third-tier side Vevey-Sports in the Swiss Cup on Saturday but conceded twice in the second half.
Young Boys manage to recover for a 4-2 victory. However, they’ve gone up and allowed opponents to draw level in five of their last seven matches, in all competitions.
So, we’re certainly not going to count out Aston Villa here, even if they go down early.
In fact, a Villa deficit may present a strong live betting opportunity for bettors. Unsurprisingly, our first Young Boys vs Aston Villa prediction is for the visitors to win this one and end Young Boys’ unbeaten streak.
The best price on a Villa victory is currently -152, at BetMGM, which is the Young Boys vs Aston Villa best bet. We’d take Villa up to -160 odds.
Another of our Young Boys vs Aston Villa predictions is that both teams will get on the scoresheet here.
Villa are yet to keep a clean sheet this campaign, while Young Boys have conceded the most goals in the Swiss Super League to this point. However, we don’t love the -175 odds BTTS is being offered at.
Top Soccer Bet: Aston Villa (-152)
Most Recent Pick: Bayern Munich -1.5
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