Aston Villa mark their return to European football this week with a trip to Edinburgh to face Scottish Premiership outfit Hibernian in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers. Here is the latest heading into Wednesday’s first-leg tie at Easter Road…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
The Villans can put one foot in the Conference League group stages with an emphatic play-off first leg performance against Hibernian tomorrow. The tie takes place on Wednesday evening, rather than the originally scheduled Thursday night, due to an inner-city clash with Hearts who face Greek side PAOK at Tynecastle Park the following day. The home leg at Villa Park will take place next Thursday, with a trip to Vincent Kompany’s newly promoted Burnley in the Premier League sandwiched in-between on the Sunday.
Villa enter the upcoming fixture on the back of a resounding performance over Everton at Villa Park. Emery’s side bounced back in style against the Toffees after losing heavily on the opening weekend away at Newcastle United, putting four past their Merseyside opposition. Captain John McGinn, Douglas Luiz (penalty), Leon Bailey and Jhon Durán – who opened his account in claret and blue – were all on the score-sheet.
Hibernian enter this all-important mid-week fixture on the back of a 2-1 Scottish League Cup victory over Raith Rovers. Goals from winger Élie Youan and Dutch striker Dylan Vente either side of Callum Smith’s equaliser helped Lee Johnson’s side into the quarter-finals where they will face St Mirren; the side that beat them 3-2 on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership.
Hibs faced Swiss side FC Luzern in the previous qualifying round of the Conference League. They won the tie 5-3 on aggregate, defeating Die Leuchten at Easter Road by three goals to one thanks to efforts from Joe Newell, Vente and Jordan Obita, before drawing 2-2 away at the Swissporarena last week, with Youan and Martin Boyle producing the decisive strikes.
This fixture is of course a special occasion for Aston Villa captain John McGinn who returns to his former employers five years after making the switch to the West-Midlands. The 28-year-old spent three years at Hibs – featuring over 100 times – and helped the Edinburgh-based side back to the top fight of Scottish football after winning promotion in the 2016/17 season. Despite the sentiment behind his homecoming, McGinn revealed his wholehearted desire to win tomorrow evening.
Speaking ahead of his return, he said: “I will be doing my best for Villa to take a good result back home. I expect the fans to be no different. Maybe there will be a wee appreciation when my name’s read out. But once that is finished, their focus will be on Hibs winning.”
Unai Emery spoke to VillaTV about playing in Europe and tomorrow’s opposition earlier today. On the prospect of competing in Europe and the difficulty of the upcoming fixture, he said: “To play in Europe is always a great moment, we want to enjoy it and we want to be a candidate to do something [in the competition].
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery has confirmed that midfielder Philippe Coutinho suffered a hamstring injury during the latter stages of Sunday’s fixture against Everton.
On the Brazilian’s condition, Emery said: “I think it’s not a big injury, it’s a hamstring. We have to wait for tomorrow when the doctor analyses. Hopefully in two or three weeks he will be available again.”
Leon Bailey, who registered a goal and an assist on the weekend, also appeared to be withdrawn due to an injury, but the Jamaican international suffered ‘nothing serious’ – according to his head coach – and is expected to be involved tomorrow evening. Bertrand Traoré and Jhon Durán, having both missed the trip to St James’ Park last week, were both in the match-day squad at Villa Park and should be in the squad for the trip to Edinburgh.
Emi Buendía and Tyrone Mings, of course, remain sidelined with their respective long-term knee injuries, whilst Jacob Ramsey and Àlex Moreno, although nearing returns, are expected to miss both Europa Conference League play-off ties, with comebacks rumoured to be around the beginning of September.
Elsewhere, midfielders Tim Iroegbunam and Leander Dendoncker remain unavailable. New signing Nicolò Zaniolo, who was in attendance at Villa Park on Sunday, could make his Aston Villa debut tomorrow, Unai Emery has confirmed. The Italian trained all summer with his former club Galatasaray and Emery believes the 24-year-old will be of great value to the side this season.
HIBERNIAN
There are two names within the Hibernian squad that may be of note to the claret and blue faithful: midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes and forward Harry McKirdy. The pair were once a part of the academy system at Villa and played significant minutes for the U23 side, but both have since moved on and now find themselves within the Hibs ranks.
The duo could both miss tomorrows’s contest at Easter Road through injury, however. McKirdy recently underwent heart surgery after the club’s medical department discovered a problem during routine pre-season tests. The former Swindon Town forward now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines but is expected to eventually return to football after concerns about ever playing again. Doyle-Hayes, meanwhile, has missed the previous three fixtures, last featuring for his side in the closing six minutes of the first-leg tie against Luzern a fortnight ago. Despite this, the 24-year-old could feature against his old team tomorrow.
Ghanian international goalkeeper Joe Wollacott is another name who will miss the upcoming fixture. The 26-year-old shot-stopper started his first Hibs game in the second-leg of the club’s first Conference League qualifier against Andorran side Inter Club d’Escaldes, after regular ‘keeper David Marshall picked up a knock in the warm-up. The former Charlton number one suffered a thigh injury just 18 minutes in, however, and is now ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Defender Chris Cadden currently finds himself in the medical room also, having sustained a torn Achilles during the final game of the 2022/23 season against Hearts. The club confirmed that the 26-year-old would be out for ‘a significant period of time’ in May.
Former Manchester United U23 midfielder Dylan Levitt missed the recent cup fixture against Raith Rovers due to injury and will play no part in the clash with Premier League opposition tomorrow. The 22-year-old picked up an ankle set-back during the 2-2 draw with Luzern last week and manager Lee Johnson believes the number six will be out for a ‘lengthy period of time’ as a result.
Can I ask a quick favour? We love producing content for you on our website, and we want to share it with as many Villa fans as possible. Consider mentioning our website next time you’re talking Villa with your friends, or better still, It’s free to subscribe to our profit-free site; you’ll receive instant email notifications of all released articles. Plus, as with the website, no adverts or spam mail will be delivered to your mailbox; only our content. Thanks.
A BIT ON HIBERNIAN
Hibernian, managed by former Bristol City and Sunderland manager Lee Johnson, finished fifth in the Scottish Premiership last season, four points behind rivals Hearts and just ahead of St Mirren on goal difference. Elsewhere, the green and white side were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round, again missing out at the expense of Hearts, and in the group stage of the League Cup with Falkirk advancing through to the knockout phases from their respective group.
The Hibees have suffered a struggled start to the 2023/24 league campaign and find themselves second from bottom having lost both games to begin the term. Former Reading and Bolton striker Adam Le Fondre is a name some Villa fans may recognise. The 36-year-old is the club’s top goal scorer in the league (2), whilst Australian winger Martin Boyle has three goals to his name in the Conference League campaign.
Johnson has overseen a lot of change over the summer, having let a number of players both depart and arrive during the ongoing transfer window; a variable that may be responsible for the side’s difficult start to the league campaign. Hibs lost centre-forward and key player Kevin Nisbet at the start of June. The 26-year-old was the side’s top goal scorer last season which earned the forward a £2 million move to EFL Championship side Millwall. Left-back Marijan Čabraja, midfielder Kyle Magennis and veteran winger Aiden McGeady – who all featured regularly last season – also left the club.
In regards to new signings, Johnson has welcomed eight new faces to Easter Road, namely striker Dylan Vente, who left Dutch second division side Roda JC where he scored 21 goals last season, and French winger Élie Youan, who arrives permanently from Swiss side St. Gallen after a successful loan spell in Edinburgh last year. Youan was a standout performer and looked particularly exciting across two legs against Luzern, and Lee Johnson will look to his talisman to put in a similar display tomorrow night.
Johnson believes the upcoming tie will be a huge test for his side and calls upon the help of the Hibs fans ahead of tomorrow night. He said: “It’s a huge challenge, you only have to add up the factors of budgets, international caps, wages, but you’re playing eleven human beings and human beings can switch off. There are so many factors in football.
“We have to be 100% in our concentration. We need everyone to come with full voice, and we need to play the moment, not play the history of the two clubs.”
Sorry for interrupting the flow of the post; can you help support us? Our non-profit and ad-free website, UTVPODCAST | The Website, is now accepting small donations to help support its continuous evolution and operating costs. We love creating this content for you and want it to be as successful as possible. If you can help; treat us to a coffee. Thank you.
MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture at Easter Road…
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and let’s discuss?
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: LIAM DAVIES
“Thank you for reading: any likes, retweets, or shares on the social media post where you found this article would be highly appreciated“.
“Are you on Twitter? Drop me a follow; all released articles will be posted to my feed”.
Click the icon below…
Thumbnail Media Credit: www.avfc.co.uk
HUGE SAVINGS ON ASTON VILLA MERCHANDISE @ KITBAG
UTVPODCAST | The Website is pleased to partner with Official AVFC Store, Fanatics, and Kitbag. Throughout the season, we will bring you exclusive offers and discount codes.
