Birmingham finally hosted Champions League football a year ago and did so successfully, reaching the spring playoffs. However, domestically, they lost out to Newcastle in the race for fifth place. They also had a weak start to the new season, including an immediate exit from the League Cup. Nevertheless, by mid-winter, a string of victories made the club a confident member of the Premier League’s top three. The Austrian giants in 2024/2025, as in the previous season, lost the title to Sturm. But this time, they managed to go into the winter break as leaders.
Unai Emery is once again performing well in his “signature” tournament. Yes, there was an unexpected slip-up with a loss to Go Ahead Eagles. But the English side won all of their other matches. Last Thursday, they beat Fenerbahce away thanks to the only goal of the match, scored by Sancho in the 25th minute.
Their last opponents started the summer in the Champions League. After getting past Brann in qualifying, they lost twice to Club Brugge. In the Europa League, motivation seemed to be lacking: the team did beat Go Ahead Eagles but lost all other matches. Having already lost their playoff hopes, they managed a 3-1 home win over Basel.
Aston Villa vs Red Bull Salzburg: Key Statistics and Trends
Aston Villa have won six out of seven Europa League matches
The club scores an average of 1.57 goals and concedes 0.57
Red Bull Salzburg have lost seven of their last nine European matches
The team scores an average of 1.14 goals and concedes 1.71
Aston Villa vs Red Bull Salzburg: Probable Starting Line-ups
Aston Villa (probable line-up): Bizot – Digne, Mings, Lindelöf, Cash – Tielemans, Bogarde, Buendía, Rogers, Sancho – Watkins
Red Bull Salzburg (probable line-up): Schlager – Krätzig, Schuster, Gadu, Trummer – Diabaté, Bidstrup, Kitano – Alajbegović, Vertessen, Baidoo
Previous Matches: Aston Villa vs Red Bull Salzburg
The sides are meeting on the football pitch for the first time.