Zrinjski Mostar vs Aston Villa predictions: Bilbija to bag in group finale
- Aston Villa need a point to go through to the last 16 of the Conference League
- Zrinjski are bottom of Group E having lost four of their five fixtures
- Recommended bet: Nemanja Bilbija any time scorer
Aston Villa, the talk of the Premier League, now turn their attention to Europe and getting the point at Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia which would see them straight through to the last 16 of the Conference League.
They could still lose and finish top of Group E, though they won't be looking to leave it to chance against a Zrinjski side who cannot qualify from Group E.
Team news
Zrinjski midfielder Zvonimir Kozulj has been welcomed back into the first-team set-up under new head coach Mario Ivankovic and may be involved.
After playing Manchester City and Arsenal in the space of four days, Villa boss Unai Emery will probably make more changes than he normally would.
Douglas Luiz and Lucas Digne, who miss Sunday's game with Brentford through suspension, may well stay in.
Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby, paired up front together against Legia in the previous round of games, will doubtless start, while the likes of Leander Dendoncker, Clement Lenglet and Nicolo Zanioli are all likely be drafted in.
The stats
Since beating AZ 4-3 in their opening fixture, Bosnian Premijer League champions Zrinjski have lost all four Group E fixtures, three by just one goal.
They are the top scorers in Bosnia with 37 goals scored in 17 league matches.
Zrinjski have won nine of their last ten home league matches.
Villa have lost only one of their last 14 matches in all competitions and have won four in a row in the Europa Conference League since defeat in their opener at Legia Warsaw, a run which started with a 1-0 success over Zrinjski.
Prediction
Unai Emery has made it clear that he has achieved his target of qualifying for the next stage of the Europa Conference League, though he will be acutely aware that securing top spot rather than finishing second in Group E would spare them a couple of extra games in the knockout round play-offs.
To achieve that they need a point, though a loss would be fine unless Legia beat AZ well in the other game, and Villa are playing well enough to survive an examination from the Bosnian champs.
Emery will make changes after a hectic couple of weeks and with a big trip to Brentford upcoming on Sunday, so Villa, who only pipped Zrinjski 1-0 at home courtesy of John McGinn's injury-time effort, make little appeal at a short price.
And Zrinjski, even though they cannot qualify, will be keen to sign off in style if only because caretaker boss Mario Ivankovic could do with a fourth win in his sixth game in charge to boost his job prospects.
Because of that, Zrinjski will be looking to sign off with a win and in skipper Nemanja Bilbija they have an in-form striker – he has scored 18 goals this season, including five in Europe.
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