Basel vs. Aston Villa: Premier League high-flyers are underdogs to overcome Swiss giants in Europa League

Aston Villa head into their Europa League fixture against Basel looking to continue their incredible run of form.

Since failing to win any of their opening six matches in all competitions and needing until September 25 to get a victory on the board, Unai Emery's side have emerged as one of the best-performing teams in European football's top five leagues.

A total of 13 wins have been recorded in 15 matches, their two defeats during that time coming away at Go Ahead Eagles and Liverpool by 2-1 and 2-0 scorelines.

As well as sitting in third position in the Premier League table and just three points adrift of leaders Arsenal, Villa are third in the League Phase of the Europa League.

Nevertheless, there is a strong argument that the West Midlands should be viewed as the underdogs when they square off against Basel at St. Jakob-Park.

Why Villa should be viewed as underdogs against Basel

While the Swiss giants may sit all the way down in 24th in the League Phase standings, that is a consequence of their away form.

Defeats have been posted at Freiburg (2-1), Lyon (2-0) and Genk (2-1). Each of those teams sit in the top eight of the table.

Meanwhile, Basel have prevailed in home fixtures against Stuttgart and Steaua Bucuresti by 2-0 and 3-1 scorelines respectively.

As a result, FCB have now prevailed in each of their last seven Europa League matches at St. Jakob-Park, the current longest winning home run in the competition.

In total, Basel have come through 10 games without losing in the Europa League, a record stretching all the way back to 2015.

Furthermore, ahead of facing what is expected to be a rotated starting lineup, five victories have come from their last 10 games with Premier League opposition in major European games.

However, seven years have passed since they played an English team. While Basel did beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League, they did lose 4-0 on home territory.

How are Basel faring in Swiss Super League?

Ludovic Magnin's side are currently in third position in the Swiss Super League, seven points adrift of top spot.

Just seven of their 16 matches have come at St. Jakob.Park, Basel having collected 13 points from a possible 21 on familiar territory.

From a Villa perspective, though, they will take confidence from Basel failing to score in their last two games at St. Jakob.Park, against Lugano and St Gallen respectively.