Basel v Aston Villa: Three stats based bets for Thursday

• Three stats and three odds-against tips for Basel v Villa

• Emery's men backed to win but both teams can score

• Malen backed to continue fine run of form

• Paul Higham has bets for nine Europa League games in his tipsheet

• It's day one of the World Darts - read our tips here!

Basel v Aston Villa
Thusday December 11
KO 20:00
Live on TNT

Aston Villa are in the Premier League title race. They are 28/129.00 to be champions but the table tells a different story with Unai Emery's team, who beat leaders Arsenal last weekend, third and just three points off top spot. Their schedule is punishing and tonight their attention shifts to the Europa League and a trip to Swiss side Basel.

Ludovic Magnin's men are 24th in the Europa League table - 21 places below Villa - and outsiders at 18/54.60 in the match odds for tonight's game. Villa are 4/61.67 to win, with the draw 31/104.10, as Emery, who has won this competition four times, aims to keep his squad fighting on all fronts. 

Bet #1 - Back both teams to score in Villa win

The Stat

Despite the big gap between these teams in the Europea League table, Basel have only scored one goal fewer (7) than Villa (8). Emery's defenders have been good at shutting out opponents in this competition, with three clean sheets, but their recent domestic matches have featured plenty of goals, with 10 in their last two. At home, Basel should be capable of finding the net, even if Villa are too strong for them.  

The Bet 

Bet #2 - Back both teams to have five shots on target

The Stat

Villa are averaging six shots on target per match in the Europa League this season. For Basel, the figure is just below five per match. We will split the difference and back both teams to have five more tonight.

The Bet 

Bet #3 - Back Malen to make an impact again

The Stat

Donyell Malen scored both goals in Villa's 2-1 win over Young Boys last time out in the Europa League and he got one in their previous match against Macaabi Tel Aviv. The Dutchman is in fine form and was his club's player of the month for November. 

The Bet 

Now read Thursday's Europa League Tipsheet for more best bets