Home / Sports / Go Ahead Eagles Seek Historic First Against Aston Villa in Europa League
Go Ahead Eagles Seek Historic First Against Aston Villa in Europa League
23 Oct
Summary
- Go Ahead Eagles have never faced an English side in Europe before
- Aston Villa unbeaten in 6 major European matches against Dutch teams
- Go Ahead Eagles' possession drops sharply when they are winning
As of October 23rd, 2025, Go Ahead Eagles are preparing to make history as they face an English side, Aston Villa, in European competition for the very first time. The last British team they encountered was Celtic in the 1965-66 Cup Winners' Cup, where they suffered a 6-0 home defeat and a 1-0 away loss.
In contrast, Aston Villa have been unbeaten in all six of their major European matches against Dutch sides, winning five and drawing one. They have already defeated Feyenoord 2-0 in this season's UEFA Europa League. However, Go Ahead Eagles have shown an interesting possession trend - they have averaged 70.4% possession when losing in the Europa League, but that drops sharply to 39.5% when drawing and just 12.3% when they've been winning.
Aston Villa have also been in impressive form in Europe, winning 11 of their last 15 major European group stage matches, including two victories without conceding a goal in this season's Europa League. But despite their success, they have faced more shots than all but two other teams and attempted fewer shots than five other sides in the competition.
