Aston Villa – Legia Warsaw

Fans won’t be seeing many goals in Birmingham

The opponents for the match in Birmingham will take to the pitch in the fifth round of the Conference League group stage as Group E leaders. The English team is still in the status of the main favorite for the third European tournament. The only loss of points for the Villans in the previous rounds was in the meeting with the upcoming opponent in Warsaw. In September, the teams scored twice each in the first half, but when Legia took the lead for the third time in the second half, Aston Villa could not get back - 2:3. The Polish club, in turn, lost their Conference League match in Alkmaar, conceding the only goal early in the second half and then failing to get back on track against ten AZ players. Before the fifth round, both opponents have nine points each, their rivals in the form of Zrinjski Mostar and AZ Alkmaar have six points each. Bookmakers have identified the home team as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.28 on their victory. "Villans" in the current season played only one match in a draw, being an absolutely uncompromising team. Aston Villa have played a predominant number of matches away, but at home have not lost any of the nine official matches of the season. The Birmingham club lost away to Nottingham Forest in early November and did not look like themselves. This result did not signal the beginning of a slump in the Villans' game, but it emphasised that even slight signs of a weak team mood can lead to unfortunate consequences. Three full days after the match with Tottenham and two full days before the trip to Bournemouth, what can be the mood for Legia? Even considering the fact that the Villans are unlikely to lose their play-off spot even in the case of a home defeat to the Poles. Legia, despite their successes on the European stage, look relatively bad in the domestic league. In the last two games Legia failed to beat Lech (0:0) and Warta (2:2) at home. If in the first case the result lends itself to logic, then in the second - the opponent should have been beaten. In Birmingham, the Poles will play as an underdog and try to "dry up" the game. The fans will not see many goals.