Aston Villa welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv in a fixture that has made headlines due to off field issues. Unai Emery’s side have won two of their three games in the Europa League this term, but lost last time out against Go Ahead Eagles.

Maccabi Tel Aviv are yet to win a game in the Europa League having lost their last two matches against Midtyjlland and Dinamo Zagreb.

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📈 Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Form & Tactics

Aston Villa have hit a small stumbling block after a promising period of form which followed a slow start to the campaign. Recent away defeats against Liverpool and Go Ahead Eagles will have dented the momentum of Villa following a five game winning streak. They did manage to register a 1-0 win over Manchester City between their defeats at the hands of Go Ahead Eagles and Liverpool so Villa are still a threatening side at home.

Villa looked to suffer from complacency in the early stages of the season with the squad requiring a few public dressing downs by Unai Emery before they started to click into gear. Villa are particularly dominant in this competition, as are most of the Premier League sides, with the natural advantage in quality and depth they have in the squad.

Maccabi Tel Aviv are yet to win a game in the Europa League having lost two and drawn one of their matches so far. They’re doing a lot better domestically with Maccabi sitting second in the table, just one point behind league leaders Hapoel. This doesn’t count for much in the Europa League, and illustrates how far behind they are when compared to the more established sides in the competition.

Maccabi have conceded six goals across their three games in the Europa League this season so Villa could come out healthy victors here if Maccabi collapse in a similar manner to that of their last few games in the Europa League, where they conceded 3+ goals in matches against Midtyjjland and Dinamo Zagreb.

📔 Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Formation & Team News

Aston Villa should continue with their 4-2-3-1 shape which appears as a 4-2-2-2 when Villa have the ball. This structure involves the wingers tucking in to act as number 10s, with width offered by the fullbacks. We’ve recently seen how effective Matty Cash in particular can be for Villa when getting forward with his excellent goal against Manchester City.

Villa also like to build out from the back, this part of their structure has been harmed by the absence of Youri Tielemans who remains sidelined for this encounter. Villa are also expected to be without Emi Buendia which is a blow as he had started to find some form following a promising pre-season campaign for Villa.

Maccabi Tel Aviv are set to line up in 4-2-3-1 which is the shape they’ve used for all three of their Europa League matches this season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this become a 4-4-2 or a really fierce low block with the issues that Maccabi have faced in the Europa League in recent matches.

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.