Young Boys are not that low in the standings (22nd), but they are clear underdogs against Aston Villa. The English club can be beaten, there is a precedent, but last autumn in the Champions League the Swiss side suffered a heavy home defeat to them (0:3).
Aston Villa
Aston Villa have put together three wins in a row in all competitions. In each of those matches they scored at least two goals. This has lifted them to sixth place in the Europa League and to fourth place in the Premier League. Six different players have scored their eight goals, so there are threats all over the pitch. Since the start of October, Aston Villa have played nine matches, but both of their defeats came away from home. At Villa Park they have four wins out of four.
Young Boys
Despite sitting 22nd, Young Boys have conceded more goals than anyone else over the four rounds of the main stage of the Europa League – 10 in total. This is mainly due to two defeats against Greek clubs: Panathinaikos at home (1:4) and PAOK Thessaloniki away (0:4). They have not conceded fewer than two goals in any match. Of course, the wins in their last two Swiss Super League rounds – 4:1 against St. Gallen and 5:0 against Winterthur – brought some positive emotions, but both opponents are only average teams even by local standards.
Aston Villa vs Young Boys Prediction
Given last year's 0:3 defeat and the current form and statistics, we do not expect anything positive for Young Boys, so we will back Aston Villa with a -1.5 handicap.
