Legia Warsaw vs Aston Villa predictions: Villans to start in positive manner
- Over 2.5 goals landed in five of Legia's six Europa Conference League qualifying matches this season
- All five of Villa's wins across all competitions in this campaign have seen over 2.5 goals
- Recommended bet: Aston Villa to win and both teams to score
Aston Villa travel to Legia Warsaw on Thursday for their opening Europa Conference League clash and it promises to be a free-scoring affair at Stadion Wojska Polskiego.
The Villans are appearing in the group stage of a European competition for the first time since reaching the last-32 stage of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, while Legia are dropping down a level after featuring in the Europa League last season.
Team news
Villa are without long-term absentees Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings (both knee), while Bertrand Traore and Jacob Ramsey are pushing for a return this weekend.
Emery is expected to rotate his squad and midfielder Youri Tielemans is in line for start, as are the likes of Clement Lenglet, Alex Moreno, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran.
Legia boss Kosta Runjaic is expected to stick with the same starting XI that chalked up a third straight victory across all competitions last time out, although Gil Dias is pushing for a first start since his loan move from Stuttgart.
The stats
Villa lost 5-1 at Newcastle on the opening weekend of the Premier League season but they have since racked up five victories from their next six matches across all competitions, with all of those victories having over 2.5 goals in them.
The Villans have only managed to keep one clean sheet from their four away outings this term and have conceded nine across those matches – five against Newcastle, one at Burnley and three in defeat to Liverpool.
Legia came through three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, scoring 15 goals and conceding 13, with over 2.5 goals landing in all but one of those games.
Prediction
Villa have picked up well since that opening-day at St James' Park and they will be confident of starting quest for European glory with a victory in Poland.
The Villans have been impressive in the final third, scoring 11 times in the league and eight times in Europe, but they have also shown frailties at the back and the potential of a changed defence may not help this cause.
Legia have shown they have a penchant for scoring goals, having netted in their last 11 games across all competitions, but just one clean sheet from their last eight assignments shows they are also struggling to keep it tight.
Villa's extra quality should see them through in this one although they may not have everything their own way on foreign soil, so siding with the hosts to score in a losing cause looks like the play here.
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