Dembele continued his stellar campaign with an assist against Aston Villa in the first leg. He didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet with the limelight reserved for Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who tormented the Villa defence on multiple occasions, resulting in a resounding 3-1 victory for the Parisians.

Dembele did have four attempts in the game despite not getting on the scoresheet; one of these found the target in line with his average of 1.82 shots on target per 90 in the Champions League this term. Dembele has had a shot on target in nine of his 11 appearances in Europe this season, resulting in seven goals for the 27-year-old.

This promising record in the Champions League indicates that Dembele will continue to be a threat here. He plays through the middle for PSG, and with Villa needing a few goals to get back into the tie, there is likely going to be space on the transition for Dembele, Doue and Kvaratskhelia to hurt Aston Villa again at Villa Park.

Ollie Watkins has been posting promising fouls committed and fouls won numbers all season, from a betting perspective. The Villa striker was surprisingly left out of the starting lineup for the first leg but should return here, having scored when coming off the bench in Villa’s recent Premier League outing against Southampton.

Watkins has committed 11 fouls across his 11 appearances in the Champions League this season, nine of these have been starts, taking his average to 1.45 fouls committed per 90. Watkins often finds himself in scraps with the opposition centre backs, he’s not a traditional striker that can hold up play and can struggle with the physicality of some centre backs, making him more likely to make niggling fouls where he can’t quite come out on top in the physical battle.

Rashford failed to really occupy Lucas Beraldo and Willian Pacho in the first leg, with neither centre back directly engaged by the on-loan Manchester United man, as we can see from their low duel numbers in the game. Watkins will be more active in his battle with the PSG centre backs, notably against Marquinhos, who is set to come back into the starting lineup after being suspended for the first leg.

PSG were dominant in all areas of their first leg victory over Aston Villa at the Parc Des Princes, including in the shots on target count. PSG had 10 shots on target to Villa’s two in the opening leg, also dominating the shot count in registering 29 shots to Villa’s seven.

PSG play with an intense counter-press which no side has had an answer to in the Champions League up until this point. This allows them to win the ball back high up the pitch and translate this off the ball aggression into shots on the opposition goal, explaining why their shots on target count was so high in the first leg - Villa were repeatedly trapped in their half with no outball, inviting attacking pressure which translated to shots.

PSG have been doing this all season, only Bayern Munich (7.8) are averaging more shots on target per game in the Champions League than Luis Enrique’s side. Unsurprisingly, they also top the Ligue 1 rankings when it comes to shots on target, averaging 8.4 per game across their 28 league games this campaign. It is no exaggeration to say that PSG are the best attacking side in Europe right now, possibly rivalled by Barcelona, who they could end up facing in the final.

PSG have racked up 4+ corners in 11 of their 13 games in the Champions League this season, including the first leg. Luis Enrique’s side won nine corners in the first leg meeting at the Parc Des Princes, highlighting their ability to keep the opposition penned back in their own half with their excellent counter-press and world class frontline.

Villa have conceded 4+ corners in six of their 11 Champions League games this season, which isn’t the most standout record, but this should be set to increase against a PSG side who have the ability to sustain attacks and get shots off.

PSG aren’t a side that will look to sit back and protect their lead, they’ll be active in trying to win the ball back and put the tie to bed. The game will have to open up at some point with Villa needing a few goals to get back into the tie, which should give PSG the opportunity to win corners at a steady rate, as they’ve been doing in the Champions League all season.

Doue was nothing short of sensational in the first leg, scoring a brilliant goal to bring PSG level, which set the tone for the rest of their performance as PSG ran out 3-1 winners in the first leg. He’s registered 23 goal contributions across his 43 appearances across all competitions this season.

PSG are unlikely to sit back and protect what they’ve got here, a Villa goal completely changes the complexion of the tie, so they can’t be too passive on their first ever trip to Villa Park. PSG are arguably the best attacking side in Europe at the moment, they are relentless in the final third with the trio of Doue, Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele proving particularly effective in dismantling opposition backlines.

Doue has registered five goal contributions across just 492 minutes of Champions League football this season, working out to a goal contribution every 98 minutes in the competition. He enters this second leg having scored in each of his last four games in all competitions and can hurt Aston Villa again here as they seek to find a way back into the tie.

John McGinn was in the thick of the action in the first leg, contesting 10 duels and being hauled down on two occasions. McGinn regularly puts himself about but tends to cross the line, especially when it comes to these big occasions where he has to take an active role in spurring the team on as the captain.

McGinn has received seven yellow cards in the Premier League this season, only Morgan Rogers (eight) has received more cautions domestically this campaign than the Scotsman. Interestingly, this record hasn’t quite yet translated to the Champions League with the 30-year-old yet to pick up a booking in the competition.

However, second leg ties usually see an increase in the intensity and physicality of a game, with a direct consequence waiting at the end of it. The gamestate suits Villa cards here, PSG will make the most of the space offered to them in transition with Villa needing goals to get back into this tie, which should lead to McGinn and the other Villa midfielders being forced into making challenges to stop PSG from having a direct route to goal.

Aston Villa didn’t have many opportunities in the first leg but still managed to find the back of the net through Morgan Rogers, who ended up having both of their shots on target in the game. We can expect Villa to offer more of an attacking threat here as the home side, Unai Emery’s men, have already shown how effective they can be at Villa Park in this competition, having already seen off Bayern Munich earlier in the campaign.

Villa have scored 10 goals across their five games at home in the Champions League this season, including firing three past Club Brugge to reach this stage of the tournament. Villa generally perform much better at home compared to on the road. They’ve scored five more goals at home than on their travels in the Premier League this season, as well as conceding eight fewer.

PSG have seen BTTS in four of their last five games across all competitions, including the first leg meeting. Their exceptional attacking quality always gives them a good chance of finding the back of the net, but their defence is still far from watertight, which should give Villa opportunities to attempt to find a way back into the contest.

This comfortably landed for PSG in the first leg with the home side racking up nine corners in total. Aston Villa only had one corner kick, but you would expect this total to rise here, seeing as they are chasing the tie and when considering their corner numbers in the Champions League this season.


Villa have had 3+ corners in four of their five games at Villa Park this season, with 1+ corner in each half landing on all of those occasions. The exception came against Bayern Munich, which was a game that saw Villa employ a very pragmatic approach. Such a conservative outlook won’t be as effective here with Villa needing at least two goals to get back into the tie, an urge which should prompt a rise in their corner count from the first leg.