Aston VillaForm guide
Aston Villa have been far better in Europe than in the Premier League. In the league they have 8 points from seven games and have struggled at home, losing to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest and drawing 2-2 with Brentford. They won 1-0 at Newcastle on Saturday, though, and are unbeaten in five games in all competitions. In the Champions League they have a perfect record: 3-2 at Club Brugge and a 6-0 thrashing of Fenerbahçe last week.
Viking are second in the Eliteserien with 56 points from 23 games, level with Bodø/Glimt and behind only on goal difference. They have scored 59 league goals and conceded 22. They come in on a strong run: a 2-0 win at Brann, a 3-2 win over Fredrikstad at the weekend, and an impressive 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They lost 3-1 at Stuttgart on matchday one.
Head-to-head
We found no previous meeting between the two clubs.
Team news
Villa have several absences: Maatsen, Ruggeri and Onana are out, and Wan-Bissaka and Barkley are doubts. Viking are missing four players, including Berisha and D'Agostino.
Our prediction and why
We take over 1.5 goals. All eight of Viking's recent games had at least two goals, and their league games average 3.5 goals. They scored three against Bayern Munich last week. Villa had at least two goals in six of their last eight games, including five in Bruges and six against Fenerbahçe.
Other bets to consider
Villa or draw (1X) is the obvious result bet, but Villa's home form in the league (two defeats and a draw) keeps it below our 90% bar, so we stick with goals.