Aston Villa v Red Bull Salzburg: predicted line-up, team news and match preview
Aston Villa face Austrian Bundesliga leaders Red Bull Salzburg in their eighth and final league phase match in the 2025/26 Europa League.
Villa sit in second place in the Europa League table, level on points with Lyon, with 90 minutes remaining in the league phase. Their progress to the round of 16 without the need to participate in the play-off round is already confirmed thanks to six wins from the previous seven matches.
Unai Emery now has to balance the need to stay in the top two places with the harsh reality that resting players and taking them out of harm’s way would be the prudent move.
What’s on the line at Villa Park?
In the 36-team Europa League Übertisch, Villa can finish anywhere between first and seventh. Lyon and Villa have 18 points – one more than Freiburg, two more than Midtjylland and Braga, and three more than Roma and Ferencváros.
Lyon’s goal difference at the top is four goals better than Villa’s. They have a home fixture against PAOK on Thursday. A win for Villa is unlikely to overturn the goal difference if Lyon win their game but it would put Emery’s team out of everyone else’s reach.
If Villa can finish in the top two, they would have second-leg home advantage up to and including the semi-finals, should they get that far.
Salzburg are in very real danger of elimination. They start the night in 28th and can only scrape into an unseeded play-off place at best. With three teams ahead of them in the queue, the odds are against them even with a win against Villa.
Villa team news
Emery’s update in his press conference on Wednesday was full of bad news on the injury front.
Boubacar Kamara is out for the season and has now been joined on the sidelines by Youri Tielemans, who faces ten weeks out, and John McGinn, who will also be out of action for a couple of months.
Ross Barkley is due to return in the coming days to help relieve the issues in the midfield but there’s a fresh injury for right-back Andrés García, who could be out of contention for three weeks with a thigh problem.
Leon Bailey is back from his loan but isn’t part of Villa’s Europa League squad. New signing Tammy Abraham is also ineligible.
Villa predicted line-up v Red Bull Salzburg
There are opportunities to shuffle the defensive pack and I think that’s what will happen. Marco Bizot has earned a start in goal on merit. Matty Cash is the obvious first-stringer to play in order to allow changes in the centre of defence and in midfield.
The biggest question of all is in midfield, where Villa’s injury problems are beyond a joke. Will Emery risk his only available senior central midfielder by playing Amadou Onana, or will George Hemmings complete a very inexperienced pairing?
Where to watch Villa v Salzburg
Villa’s home game against Red Bull Salzburg will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 2 and streamed on Discovery+ in the UK.
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➡️ How to watch Aston Villa v Red Bull Salzburg: kick-off time, TV channels and streams
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