A battle of Scotland vs England takes place in one of Europe’s admittedly less-than-stellar occasions on Wednesday, with Scottish Premiership outfit Hibernian hosting Premier League side Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League play-off.
With a place in the group stage up for grabs, a positive first-leg result feels imperative for Hibs if they are to give themselves a chance of making it through to the competition proper - which would be their first true European campaign since a 2005/06 Uefa Cup first-round exit, aside from a few Intertoto Cup appearances.
Domestically, matters haven’t gone well for Hibs though this term; despite coming through two qualifying rounds in Europe already, beating Andorran side Inter Club d’Escaldes and Swiss outfit Luzern, it’s so far two defeats from two in the SPL.
Aston Villa were thrashed by Newcastle before hammering Everton in a topsy-turvy pair of fixtures themselves at the start of 2023/24.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game and get all the latest football betting sites offers here.
When is Hibs vs Aston Villa
Hibs face Villa in the first leg of their play-off tie on Wednesday 23 August, with kick-off set for 5:45pm BST.
Where can I watch it?
The game will be broadcast live on BBC Scotland, while it can be streamed on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.
What is the team news
Hibs should have Jake Doyle-Hayes back from an injury lay-off, while Dylan Vente should be fine to start after going off injured at the weekend. Dylan Levitt will not play, however.
For Villa, there may be a debut for new loan signing Nicolo Zaniolo, while John McGinn will hope to face the club he spent over three years with before signing for Villa in 2018. Youri Tielemans and Jhon Duran will hope to feature after coming off the bench to good effect in the weekend win over Everton, but Philippe Coutinho went off injured in that game and joins Alex Moreno, Jacob Ramsey, Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings and Leander Dendoncker on the sidelines.
Predicted lineups
Hibs - Marshall, Fish, Hanlon, Stevenson, Miller, Jeggo, Boyle, Newell, Obita, Vente, Doidge.
Villa - Martinez, Cash, Carlos, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, Zaniolo, Diaby, McGinn, Watkins
Odds
Hibs 21/2
Draw 19/4
Villa 2/11
Get all the latest football betting sites offers here.
Prediction
Villa don’t need to go all-out to get the win away from home, but probably can do if they attack the same way they did at the weekend. Hibs 1-2 Aston Villa.
