The 2025 Europa League season kicks off this week, with all 36 teams competing against each other. Coppa Italia winners Bologna will play against English club Aston Villa on 25th September at Villa Park in Birmingham. The match kicks off at 20:00 BST.
Both teams have faced each other only once in the last 10 years – at the 2024 Champions League. Villa defeated Bologna 2–0 in that fixture. Villa won 2-0 during the inaugural league phase of the Champions League. The Villans are in the Europa League for the first time since 2008/09. However, their coach, Unai Emery, has plenty of experience in European competitions. He holds the record for the highest Europa League wins as a coach – thrice for Sevilla and once for Villarreal.
Bologna, on the other hand, last featured in the competition over 20 years ago. This time, they earned their place by winning the Italian Cup. Domestically, Bologna is trailing in 11th position in the Serie A with two wins and two losses.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa is hovering close to the relegation zone in the 18th spot in the Premier League. They had three draws and two losses in their last five matches. However, bettors and fans shouldn’t write off the Villans. They finished sixth in the top flight last season and managed to reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and the semis of the FA Cup.
Both teams are strong and will be looking for a win on Thursday. So, fans and bettors can expect plenty of action. Below, we give you the Aston Villa vs Bologna preview, betting markets, and odds.
UEFA Europa League Betting Odds: Aston Villa vs Bologna
7bet offers competitive Aston Villa vs Bologna betting odds.
Please note that the odds mentioned below are accurate as of the publishing time of the article.
1X2 Odds
| Aston Villa (1) | X | Bologna (2) |
| 5/6 | 5/2 | 16/5 |
The 1X2 market is a straightforward approach to betting. Here, bettors have to pick one out of three possible outcomes in every football match:
- 1: Home team (Aston Villa) wins
- X: Draw
- 2: Away team (Bologna) wins
UK sportsbooks use fractional odds, as can be seen above. The denominator indicates the bet amount, and the numerator is the expected return. For example, Aston Villa’s odds are 5/6, which means you stand to win £5 for every £6, along with your stake (betting amount) back. Similarly, a successful bet on Bologna pays £16 for every £5, and correctly predicting a draw pays £5 for every £2.
Upon simplifying the fractions, for every pound, you receive £0.83 for correctly predicting Aston Villa’s win, £2.5 for predicting a draw, and £3.2 if Bologna wins.
The odds for each outcome (accurate to the time of publishing the article) reflect how bookmakers rate each team’s chances. If the odds are low, it means the team may be a favourite and expected to win. In this scenario, bookmakers lower the odds to balance the market. Similarly, when the odds are long, i.e., the bet yields a high return, it may indicate that a team is an underdog and has less chance of winning.
It is important to note that the odds are based on predictions and don’t affect or influence the outcome. Don’t rely only on the odds before placing your bets. Research both teams’ form, injuries, and lineup to decide which outcome to bet on.
Double Chance
| Villa or Draw | Villa or Bologna | Draw or Bologna |
| 2/9 | 3/11 | 4/5 |
The Double Chance allows you to bet on two out of three outcomes simultaneously:
- Aston Villa or Draw: This bet loses if Bologna wins.
- Aston Villa or Bologna: You lose if the game ends in a draw.
- Draw or Bologna: This bet loses if Aston Villa wins.
Double Chance is a variation of 1X2, as bettors can pick two outcomes instead of one. It’s a useful market to consider if you believe both teams are evenly matched and predicting a result may be difficult. Moreover, your probability of winning in Double Chance is higher than 1X2, since you get to pick more options. But this also means that your payout will be lower. Bookmakers lower the odds when the likelihood of a result becomes very high.
Check both teams’ win-loss-draw record in the last 10 matches before considering this market. Aston Villa has 5 draws, 2 wins, and 3 losses in their last 10 matches, whereas Bologna has 6 wins and 4 losses in the same period.
Use this data to minimise your risk. You can consider removing the option of a draw if you feel this may be the least likely outcome.
Draw No Bet
| Aston Villa City | Bologna |
| 5/14 | 2/1 |
This is another variation of the match winner market. The Draw No Bet (DNB) market removes Draw as a betting option. That leaves bettors with only two choices – predict a win for either team. If the match ends in a draw, the stakes are refunded.
Consider how many times both teams were held to a draw in their recent matches to decide which way to bet. Villa drew 5 of their last 10 games, while Bologna were last held back to a draw in May. Apply this statistic in your research when considering the Aston Villa vs Bologna betting odds in the Draw No Bet market.
Back Aston Villa in the DNB market, pays £5 profit on a £14 bet (£0.35 for every pound) if they win. Choosing Bologna at 2/1 odds will give you £2 return for every pound.
Handicap Betting Odds
| Aston Villa (-0.5) | Bologna (+0.5) |
| 10/13 | 10/11 |
| Aston Villa (-1.5) | Bologna(+1.5) |
| 11/15 | 5/16 |
| Aston Villa (-0.25) | Bologna(+0.25) |
| 4/7 | 5/4 |
A handicap is used to give an advantage to one team and a similar disadvantage to the other team. This market is often used when both teams appear to be unevenly matched. For example, if there is a top-performing team playing against an underdog, the odds will clearly favour the first team. In this scenario, bettors can choose to award some points to the underdog to give them a head start. A similar number of points is subtracted from the other team, and it changes the way the final score is calculated for the bet. For example, you choose to award 1.5 points to Bologna, and Aston Villa wins the match 3–1. The final score will be calculated as 1.5–2.5, after applying the handicaps. In this case, bets on Bologna win even though they lost the match.
A positive handicap means a fixed number (chosen by you) will be added to one team’s final goal score. Similarly, a negative handicap deducts a similar number of points from the other team. Your bet wins or loses depending on the adjusted final score.
All available handicaps for this fixture on 7bet are negative for Aston Villa and positive for Bologna. This means Bologna gets an advantage in each handicap bet.
Here are two examples of how your bet will pay out with different handicaps:
- Aston Villa (-0.5) / Bologna (+0.5): Bologna has a small advantage here as Aston Villa needs to win with at least a 2-goal difference to overcome the handicap. For example, Villa wins 2–1. Based on the handicap, the final score will be calculated as 1.5–1.5, giving a win to Draw bets. If Villa wins 3–1, the final score becomes 2.5–1.5, and bets on Villa win. If the game draws, bets on Bologna win.
- Aston Villa (-1.5) / Bologna (+1.5): Bologna has a bigger advantage here as Villa needs to win the match with a 4-goal difference to overcome the handicap. For example, Aston Villa wins 2–1. The handicap-adjusted score becomes 0.5–2.5, giving a win to bets on Bologna. However, if Aston Villa wins 4–0, the adjusted score becomes 2.5–1.5, and bets on Villa win.
Consider the goal difference of both teams in their last 10 fixtures. If they’ve consistently won multiple matches with a big goal difference, then choose a bigger handicap. However, if most of their matches have been tight, play it safe with the shortest handicap.
Both Teams to Score (BTTS Odds)
| Yes | No |
| 5/6 | 5/6 |
Consider the clean sheets for teams in this market. A clean sheet means the team’s goalkeeper didn’t allow even a single goal to slide in. Both teams kept four clean sheets in their last 10 matches. Moreover, it’s also important to consider how many times they failed to score any goals. Aston Villa didn’t score any goals in four of their last 10 matches, while Bologna scored zero goals in three matches.
These statistics will help you decide whether to pick “Yes” or “No” in the Both Teams to Score (BTTS) market. The final winner or the score doesn’t matter.
The “Yes” bets win as long as both Aston Villa and Bologna score at least once. So, any score that doesn’t have a zero in it pays out. For example, if the score is 1–2, 3–1, or 1–1, your bet wins. Even if the match ties, your bet wins as long as the score is at least 1–1. On the other hand, no bets win if the score has a zero, such as 1–0, 0–0, or 2–0.
Goal Total (Over/Under) Odds
| Over 2.5 | Under 2.5 |
| 20/21 | 20/27 |
Aston Villa averaged 1.1 goals in their last 10 matches. Bologna has averaged 2.5 goals in the same period. This brings their average combined goal total to 3.6. Use this statistic when considering the Aston Villa vs Bologna betting odds in the Over/Under market.
If you believe we’ll see a high-scoring match on Thursday, pick an Over total. For example, if you bet on Over 2.5 goals, your bet pays out if the final goal total is at least three. This means that any score of three or above, like 2–1, 3–0, 3–1, 3–2, etc., will pay out. Similarly, if you pick the Under 2.5 bet, the final score must be two or lower for your bet to win. So, scores like 1–0, 0–0, 2–0, 0–2 will pay out for this bet.
Bettors can adjust the betting line between 1.5 and 4.5 goals. This is a special market, where the match winner and the final score don’t matter. You just have to predict whether the combined goal total will be over or under your chosen number.
Correct Score Odds
| 1/0 (Aston Villa Wins) | 1/1 (Draw) | 0/1 (Bologna Wins) |
| 16/3 | 5/1 | 9/1 |
Bettors need to predict the precise score in this market, which involves a fair bit of risk and guesswork. This is a high-paying market because of the risk. For example, predicting a precise 1/0 win for Aston Villa pays £16 for every £3 and predicting a correct 0/1 win for Bologna pays £9 for every pound. These are just a few examples of possible scores. Bettors are free to pick any combination of the final score by adjusting the betting line on our page. The betting line can be adjusted between 0 and +5 goals for both teams.
Where to Watch UEFA Europa League Matches in the UK
Fans in the UK can watch UEFA Europa League matches on TNT Sports. Viewers who have access to the Discovery+ subscription can catch all the build-up programming on TNT Sports 1 or TNT Sports Ultimate. Viewers who don’t have access to Discovery+ can download the app and still access the matches without a subscription. Virgin Media TV customers in the UK can watch all UEFA Europa League matches on channel 527.
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