Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv: Hosts can make early impression at 17/10

• Villa have won their last four games at home

• Maccabi have taken just one point out of nine so far

• Villa can be quickly into their stride once more

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Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv
Thursday, 20:00
Live on TNT Sports 2 & Discovery+

Villa have had mixed start to season

This fixture has been in the news for quite a while due to the controversy over whether there would be a ban on the visitors' fans. Despite backlash, away supporters will not be at Villa Park.

Unai Emery's side sit 11th in the Premier League after 10 matches, the result of a poor start that yielded just three points from the opening five games. They won their next four to climb up the table before a 2-0 loss at Anfield at the weekend.

It's also been a bit of a mixed bag in this tournament, although in reverse. Villa started with wins over Bologna (1-0 at home) and Feyenoord (2-0 away) before they suffered a rather surprise 2-1 loss to Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles last time. Heading into this one, they sit 10th in the 36-team table.

Between that loss to Go Ahead Eagles and the defeat to Liverpool, Villa showed their strength at home with a 1-0 win over Manchester City. Yep, they've been a bit of an enigma this season.

Maccabi seeking first win

Maccabi are one of seven teams in the Europa League table without a win across their three games so far. A single point means they're 32nd out of 36.

That draw came in their one away match so far via a 0-0 stalemate against PAOK Salonika (20th in the table). It's been followed by home losses against Dinamo Zagreb (1-3) and Midtjylland (0-3).

In their domestic league, Maccabi are top after three straight wins and have just as many points in away fixtures (13 out of 15). This is clearly a massive step up though.  

Villa win with clean sheet appeals

Aston Villa are a prohibitive 2/91.22 to gain their third win out of four in the Europa League. That's hardly a surprise given that they're clear 9/25.50 favourites to win the tournament. Porto and Roma come next back on 9/110.00.

Maccabi Tel Aviv are 11/112.00 to cause a shock on Thursday night while The Draw is 5/16.00. Villa -1 on the handicaps is still odds-on at 4/61.67 while Villa -2 is 7/42.75 but that may be a little ambitious.

Emery's men have won their last four home games in all competitions, two of those with clean sheets, so the Aston Villa to Win to Nil option looks pretty solid at 1/12.00. A reminder that Maccabi failed to score in their only away game in the league phase so far.  

Go with fast start

Aston Villa have been quick out of the blocks in recent times and can make another fast start here.

They took the lead after just four minutes despite losing to Go Ahead Eagles, were 1-0 up on Manchester City with 19 minutes on the clock while they hit the post through both Morgan Rogers and Matty Cash inside the first 20 minutes at Anfield with the score 0-0.

They'll be fired up after losing those two recent away games and Aston Villa to lead at 20 minutes is worth a shot at 17/102.70.

In terms of goalscorers it's hard to find a strong candidate.

No Villa player has scored more than twice in the Premier League this season - the now injured Emiliano Buendia, the often benched Donyell Malen and right-back Matty Cash.

Perhaps Cash, who scored the winner against Man City in stunning fashion is an anytime option therefore at 13/27.50.

It's a good opportunity for Ollie Watkins to get in among the goals again but with just one in 14 appearances for his club this season, it's hard to recommend him at odds-on.

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