The UEFA Champions League is officially back, and this Tuesday night sees the 1982 winners Aston Villa back in the competition, though under a different name from their last entry, take on Swiss team BSC Young Boys. It is technically Aston Villa’s first time in this competition, and we have a great tip for the match to mark the occasion.

BSC Young Boys

It might Villa’s first time in the new and rebranded UEFA Champions League but BSC Young Boys have made a habit of making it through the qualifying stages of this competition, this being their forth time across the last six years. They faced an English team before the knockout stage last year as well since Manchester City were involved in their group. They finished third and therefore got a place in the UEFA Europa League knockout playoffs but were ultimately defeated by Sporting Lisbon.

They might have done well by beating Turkish side Galatasaray over two legs to get here, but domestically it has not been the same. After six rounds in the Swiss Pro League, they sit in rock bottom with zero wins, three losses and three draws. They might have won in the Swiss Cup on Saturday but in the league where it counts, YB are yet to pick up three points after 90 minutes.

After losing their opening three games, they have clawed their form back, making it six games on the trot where they have been unbeaten. They clearly do show some signs of promise otherwise they would not have managed to beat Galatasaray twice to make it to this stage but this match against Aston Villa will be a tough challenge for them.

Aston Villa

Since the competition rebranded all the way back in 1992, there have been 10 English clubs that have featured and now Aston Villa will make it 11. They are not unfamiliar with European competitions though as they featured in the UEFA Europa Conference League last year, making it all the way to the Semi-Finals before being beaten by eventual winners Olympiacos

They earned their place by finishing in fourth place in the Premier League last season and Unai Emery looks to be leading his side in a similar fashion once more as Villa have won three of the first four matches in the league. A 79th minute winner from Jhon Duran sealed three points on opening weekend against West Ham. Next week and they were placed up against potential title challengers Arsenal where they were beaten 0-2. The Villans didn’t let that loss drop moral as they have won their previous two games 1-2 and 3-2 versus Leicester City and Everton respectively.

While they might be in good form domestically, Aston Villa have only won twice in 11 matches away from home in a European competition, their most recent loss being their exit from the Conference League at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskáki. To add more bad news to the Villa fans, their side have not been able to keep a clean sheet in their last nine attempts so Youngs Boys can’t be written off so easily.

Predicted Line-Ups

BSC 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

What’s the tip?

Our betting experts have gone with BSC Young Boys Double Chance. Villa have historically struggled in Europe when they haven’t played at Villa Park and we feel that will happen again in this match. They have had to leave it late to find winners in two out of four games so far and they can’t just rely on Jhon Duran off the bench for a third time if it comes down to it.

What are the returns?

Through our bookmaker you can get odds as good as 6/5 via Betfred. Provided a £10 stake is placed, you could see winnings of £22.

Where can I watch the game?

UK viewers can catch this match on TNT Sports 1 / discovery+.