ASTON VILLA will look to overcome a 3-1 deficit when they welcome French champions Paris Saint-Germain to Villa Park for their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.
Aston Villa vs PSG preview
Mission impossible or the great escape?
Aston Villa head into Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg trailing Paris Saint-Germain 3-1.
Villa looked like they would only need to overturn a one-goal deficit at Villa Park until Nuno Mendes struck deep into stoppage time at the Parc des Princes last week.
Unai Emery's side must now win by three clear goals to eliminate the French champions without the need for extra time and penalties.
And though they enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win against Southampton over the weekend – that will be no easy task.
Villa have lost three of their four games against French sides in European competition under Unai Emery, while PSG have lost only one of their last 30 matches in all competitions – and that was the desperately unlucky 1-0 loss to Liverpool.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope. Of the seven previous occasions when Paris SG have won the first leg of a Champions League knockout stage tie by 2+ goals, the French side have been eliminated on three occasions.
They have also only won four of their 17 away games against English teams in European competition (D4 L9).
Villa are unbeaten in front of their own fans this season in the Champions League – even recording a home league phase win over six-time winners Bayern Munich.
“We believe in our supporters, we believe in Villa Park and that the players can get the best performance next week,” Emery said.
Similar comebacks have been achieved before, but it looks a tall order against a side who've already wrapped up the French title and had the luxury of a week's rest after the postponement of their game over the weekend.
- Aston Villa 9/4 with William Hill – CLAIM HERE
- Draw 14/5 with Betfred – CLAIM HERE
- PSG 9/8 with BetMGM – CLAIM HERE
Odds are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change.
Fouls
He served us well in the first leg, so we're sticking with Joao Neves for Tuesday's encounter.
We backed the battling midfielder to commit 2+ fouls at 13/8 and he went and delivered with four. It should be a similar story in the second leg with PSG desperate to maintain their advantage and disrupt this swashbuckling Villa side on a mission.
Neves has applied more high-intensity pressures than any other midfielder in the Champions League this season (651), while his 42 tackles are the most by a midfielder in a single edition of the competition since Real Madrid’s Casemiro in 2017-18 (45).
- Joao Neves Over 1.5 Fouls at 9/10 with BetMGM – CLAIM HERE
Score or assist
Desire Doue was electric in the first leg.
The 19-year-old netted the opening goal and fired off six efforts at goal with three of those on target. He also provided three key passes for his colleagues, and that's no huge surprise given he's provided a whopping 12 assists in 43 appearances this season.
- Desire Doue to score or assist at 5/4 with William Hill – CLAIM HERE
