Hibernian v Aston Villa

Hibernian vs Aston Villa Preview

Scottish Premiership outfit, Hibernian, play host to English Premier League side Aston Villa, in what could be described as a ‘Battle of Britain' at Easter Road for this 1st leg of their two-legged play-off tie with both teams vying for a place in the group stage of this season's Europa Conference League.

It's been a tough start to the Scottish domestic top flight campaign for Hibernian following defeats in their opening two games of the new season which have seen Hibs lose 3-2 at home to St Mirren and then being dealt a 2-1 defeat away from home at Motherwell, leaving the Edinburgh club sitting second from bottom in the Scottish Premiership table.

However, Hibernian experienced their first taste of success on the domestic front on the weekend when they recorded a 2-1 home win over Championship side, Raith Rovers, in the Scottish League Cup and Hibs will be hoping they can make the most of home advantage at Easter Road in Wednesday night's 1st leg clash with Aston Villa.

Results at home overall have been fairly encouraging as Hibs have lost just three of their last 10 games while goals look set to feature here especially as nine of Hibs' last 10 home games have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals.

Aston Villa have produced a mixed start to their Premier League campaign as the west midlands club suffered a heavy 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United on the opening day of the season at St James Park but the visitors did manage to bounce back with a comprehensive 4-0 rout of Everton on the weekend.

Villa's opening two games in the English top flight have therefore yielded a total of 10 goals already while the bigger picture shows Unai Emery's side have lost just once in their previous 11 matches in all competitions.

With no disrespect intended, the calibre of Aston Villa's opponents during this 11-match period have also been superior to those up against Hibernian and the gulf in quality between the Scottish Premiership and the English Premier League is expected to be evident over these two legs of this Europa Conference League play-off tie.

Aston Villa still need to put in a professional shift though at Easter Road as the west midlands club have managed to pick up just two wins from their previous nine outings on the road in all competitions.

Hibernian v Aston Villa Verdict

Hibernian know their best chance of progressing into the group stage of this competition is to really go for it at Easter Road on Wednesday night but this is liable to leave the hosts open at the back and Aston Villa will look to exploit this.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Aston Villa win & Over 2.5 goals @ 4.00

Correct score: Aston Villa 2-1 @ 9.00