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Young Boys vs Aston Villa betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Champions League
1pt Sandro Lauper to be carded at 10/3 (Sky Bet, William Hill)
1pt Jaouen Hadjam to be carded at 31/10 (BetVictor)
BuildABet @ 40/1
- Sandro Lauper to be carded
- Jaouen Hadjam to be carded
- John McGinn to be carded
Aston Villa get their first ever Champions League campaign underway at the Wankdorf Stadium in what is a very winnable looking game against Young Boys.
Unai Emery's side have won three out of four this season, losing only to Arsenal, impressing again in all four matches to date.
Swiss champions Young Boys, believe it or not, are rock bottom of the Swiss Super League after six games. They are winless, conceding 14 times, yet they managed to get past Galatasaray to put themselves in this competition.
What are the best bets?
I fully expect Villa to come away with the three points here but they are short enough at a general 4/6. It's 8/15 they score twice or more, and the Villa win and BTTS did appeal somewhat at 19/10, but I've been drawn into a card angle given the referee appointment.
Bulgarian Georgi Kabakov oversees this game and he loves a card in a UEFA competition.
Since the start of the 2020/21 season, Kabakov has overseen 33 matches across the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Nations League and Euro qualifiers and has averaged a whopping 5.3 cards per game.
The card line here is set at 4.5, with the Over priced at 5/6 which caught my eye, but if this to be a card-laden clash, why not search for a player card bet at a bigger price.
Young Boys midfielder SANDRO LAUPER looks a large price TO BE CARDED at a standout 10/3 with Sky Bet and William Hill, especially given he's likely to come up against the tricky Morgan Rodgers.
Lauper has been carded in three of his last four outings, including against Galatasaray in the Swiss sides' Champions League qualifier. His card per 90 average this season stands at 0.38, meaning I'd make this a bet down to 2/1.
He picked up three cards in his six Champions League group games last season, clearly struggling to deal with the step up in class, and that could again be the case here.
I'll also chance Young Boys' left-back JAOUEN HADJAM TO BE CARDED, with his 31/10 price too big BetVictor - he's as short as 19/10 in places.
The Algerian defender is the Swiss sides' most carded player this season, picking up four yellows and a red in eight outings.
He has been carded in three of his seven starts this term and in four of his last 10 starts last season. So, across his last 17 starts he has a cards per 90 average of 0.49, meaning I expected much shorter than the price on offer here, especially with this referee appointment.
And, given the man in the middle, I wouldn't back anyone off having a pop at the double, available at a best price of 13/1 with Sky Bet.
Team news
Young Boys have no injury issues ahead of this clash, but there is a battle for selection in attack, with Silvere Ganvoula, Cedric Itten, Darian Males and Meschak Elia all bidding to start.
Goalkeeper David von Ballmoos is back after a spell out, and should again start here.
As for Aston Villa, Leon Bailey and Matty Cash are both expected to miss out on Tuesday, while Jaden Philogene is slowly regaining fitness. Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are nearing a return after long-term injuries.
There could be some rotation at full-back, where Kosta Nedeljkovic and Ian Maatsen are pushing for starts, while the same can be said for Saturday's match-winner Jhon Duran.
Predicted line-ups
Young Boys: Von Ballmoos; Blum, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam; Lauper, Niasse; Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley; Ganvoula
Aston Villa: Martinez; Nedeljkovic, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Ramsey, Rogers; Watkins
Match facts
- This will be the first ever meeting between Young Boys and Aston Villa. Swiss sides have only won seven of the previous 24 meetings with English sides in the UEFA Champions League (D6 L11), while six of those seven victories were achieved by Basel (one by Young Boys).
- Young Boys have only won one of their previous six games against English opponents in the UEFA Champions League (D1 L4), losing home and away to Manchester City in the competition last season. Their only victory over an English side came in September 2021, winning 2-1 at home to Manchester United.
- Aston Villa will become the 11th different English club to compete in the UEFA Champions League, and the first English newcomer since Leicester City in 2016-17 (won 3-0 in their first game versus Club Brugge).
- This will be Aston Villa’s first game in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League since March 1983, when they were beaten over two legs by Juventus in the 1982-83 quarter-final (1-2 at home in the first leg, 1-3 in the second leg away).
- Young Boys won their previous home game in the UEFA Champions League, beating Crvena Zvezda 2-0 on MD5 last season. Only once before have they won consecutive home matches in the competition – 2-1 v Juventus and Manchester United between 2018 and 2021.
- Aston Villa will be the sixth different team Unai Emery has managed in the UEFA Champions League, after spells with Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Paris SG and Villarreal. The only manager who’s taken charge of more than six different sides in the competition is Carlo Ancelotti (8).
- Unai Emery’s last game in the UEFA Champions League was back in May 2022, with his Villarreal side being eliminated 2-5 on aggregate against Liverpool in the semi-finals (0-2 away, 2-3 at home). That final four appearance was the current Aston Villa boss’ best ever finish in a single season in the competition.
- Ollie Watkins scored five goals in the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League; the joint-most by an Aston Villa player in a major European campaign (level with Gary Shaw in 1982-83 European Cup and John Deehan in 1977-78 UEFA Cup).
Odds correct at 1500 BST (16/09/24)
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