Aston Villa face Basel in the Europa League on Thursday night, and Unai Emery has named our starting line-up for the encounter.
Villa make eight changes to the side that defeated Arsenal in the Premier League last weekend, with Marco Bizot, Victor Lindelöf, Lucas Digne, Lamare Bogarde, Jadon Sancho, Emi Buendía, Evann Guessand and Donyell Malen coming in to replace Emi Martínez, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins respectively.
Despite those significant tweaks, it remains a strong Villa XI with great options on the bench, and so it’s hoped that we’re able to keep our winning momentum going.
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Given the quality of the opposition though and their experience in European competitions, this promises to be a difficult assignment away from home, one that Villa will hopefully pass with flying colours through a mature performance to prove our credentials in this competition.
Nevertheless, the changes were expected as Emery rotates and not only tries to keep his players fresh, but to also involve those struggling for minutes at the moment, as we’ll need everyone to contribute in the coming weeks and months to sustain our run.
There is once again no place for Harvey Elliott in the matchday squad as doubts linger over his future at the club, while Emiliano Martinez and Pau Torres weren’t named either, and so it remains to be seen if that’s purely to rest them or if they are possibly carrying injury issues.
Full focus will be on Basel on Thursday night though, as we look to take another important step towards qualifying in the top eight and going straight through to the knockout phase having already registered 12 points from our opening five games.
Tonight’s team to face Basel ⬇️ #UEL pic.twitter.com/th17FPVBnu
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 11, 2025
