Preview: Basel vs Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

Basel will endeavour to protect their formidable Europa League home record when they welcome a high-flying Aston Villa outfit to St Jakob-Park on Thursday night.

The two teams meet for the first time since August 2001 when John Gregory’s Villa secured a 4-1 aggregate victory in the final of the Intertoto Cup.

Match preview

Unai Emery has overseen a magnificent run of form in the West Midlands over the past couple of months, guiding his Aston Villa side to 13 victories in their last 15 games across all competitions (L2), scoring two or more goals in 10 of those matches.

Their latest triumph was on home turf against Premier League leaders Arsenal last weekend, with substitute Emiliano Buendia scoring a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser with the last kick of the game to seal a 2-1 victory, extending their winning streak to seven matches.

Aston Villa’s early-season wobble is now a distant memory and Emery’s men can now be considered as Premier League title contenders, as they sit third in the table and just three points behind the Gunners at the summit after 15 games, with a favourable trip to West Ham United up next on Sunday.

Villa must first shift their attention back to the Europa League and will be looking to build on their solid start in the League Phase. After five matches, they have accumulated 12 points (W4 L1) and sit joint top of the 36-team standings with Lyon and FC Midtjylland. Victory on Thursday would strengthen their hopes of securing at least a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the last 16.

The Lions edged past Young Boys by a 2-1 scoreline at Villa Park on matchday five a fortnight ago, but success against another Swiss outfit in Basel is not a given, as they have only won one of their last six UEFA Cup/Europa League away fixtures (D1 L4), losing their last European match on the road to Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles (2-1) in October.

Competing in the Europa League for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals six years ago, Basel have experienced an inconsistent League Phase campaign thus far, alternating between defeat and victory in their opening five fixtures (W2 L3).

The RotBlau will welcome Thursday’s return to St Jakob-Park where they have won each of their last seven home matches in the Europa League - the longest current streak in the competition - including victories this term against Stuttgart (2-0) and FCSB (3-1).

However, a 2-1 defeat at Belgium side Genk on matchday five has seen Ludovic Magnin’s men slip to 24th in the 36-team table, clinging on to the final playoff spot but sitting only three points behind 10th place with three games remaining against Aston Villa, Red Bull Salzburg and Viktoria Plzen.

Basel enter Thursday’s contest on high spirits after winning their last two domestic matches, following up a 3-1 away victory over lower-league side Grand-Saconnex in the last 16 of the Swiss Cup with a last-gasp 2-1 success against Winterthur in the Swiss Super League, courtesy of a 93rd-minute winner from Keigo Tsunemoto.

Sitting third in the top-flight table and seven points behind the summit, Basel will be considered as underdogs when they do battle with Aston Villa in the Europa League and they travel to Villa Park having previously won nine of their 30 European encounters with English opposition (D7 L14), failing to win either leg of their aforementioned Intertoto showdown with Villa over two decades ago.

Basel Europa League form:

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Basel form (all competitions):

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Aston Villa Europa League form:

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Team News

It remains to be seen whether Basel forward Kaio Eduardo will be involved; the 20-year-old recently served a cross-competition suspension and has been nursing an unspecified injury.

Captain Xherdan Shaqiri - formerly of Stoke City and Liverpool - has contributed with a team-high 11 goals and 10 assists in 25 games across all competitions this term. The 34-year-old scored the opener in Basel’s win at Winterthur last weekend and he is expected to continue in an attacking role on Thursday.

Ex-Sheffield United man Benie Traore, Philip Otele and Moritz Broschinski will all battle for starts in attack with Shaqiri, while Andrej Bacanin will likely replace Marin Soticek and join Metinho and Leo Leroy in midfield.

As for Aston Villa, Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley remain sidelined with respective thigh and knee injuries, while Evann Guessand is doubtful with a knock that forced him to miss the win over Arsenal.

Matty Cash scored the opening goal against the Gunners, but he could be rested on Thursday with Lamare Bogarde, Victor Lindelof and Andres Garcia all in contention to feature at right-back, the latter of whom is available to make his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury.

If Lindelof does not start at right-back, then he could take the place of Ezri Konsa and play at centre-back alongside Pau Torres, while Lucas Digne will battle with Ian Maatsen for a place at left-back.

Donyell Malen is in contention to replace Ollie Watkins in attack, while fellow attackers Buendia and Jadon Sancho will also be looking to force their way into the first XI.

Basel possible starting lineup:

Hitz; Tsunemoto, Adjetey, Daniliuc, Schmid; Metinho, Bacanin; Shaqiri, Leroy, Otele; Broschinski

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Bizot; Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Buendia, Tielemans, Rogers; Malen

We say: Basel 1-2 Aston Villa

Aston Villa will be wary of Basel’s strong European home form, but the visitors will still be regarded as favourites for Thursday’s contest and should have enough quality in their side, even if Emery makes changes to his lineup, to come away from Switzerland with maximum points.

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