Champions League 24/25: Paris Saint-Germain vs Aston Villa first leg betting tips

Ahead of the 2024/25 Champions League quarter-final first leg between PSG and Aston Villa, the experts at Ladbrokes share their top betting tips.

PSG - who are among the favourites to win this season's Champions League - have won each of their last three UCL quarter-final ties, with Villa not featuring at this stage of the competition since the 80s. The French side will be confident of progressing again, but this one won't be easy.

Below are Ladbrokes' top betting tips for PSG vs Aston Villa tonight, backing Ousmane Dembele to score in the Champions League yet again, but also tipping Villa to cause problems.

Ligue 1's top scorer Ousmane Dembele has been in excellent goalscoring form this season, bagging nine times in his last 10 matches for PSG and already notching seven Champions League goals this season - more than double the amount of Aston Villa's UCL top scorer.

The French side are likely to dominate possession in front of their own fans, piling constant pressure on a dogged Villa defence, and the speed, trickery and quality of Dembele means we're backing him to find the net again tonight.

Despite four clean sheets in their last five games, Villa have struggled to stop the opposition from scoring on their travels this season, keeping just one clean sheet away from home in the Champions League. And with Dembele leading the line tonight, the Aston Villa defenders will have to be on high alert all evening.

Returning to his old club, Lucas Digne will have a tough test against PSG's electric wingers tonight, whoever lines up against him.

Digne has picked up two yellow cards already in this season's Champions League, meaning another will see him suspended for the second leg, and if PSG dominate the ball like they're expected to do, the French full back will have a lot of defending to get through.

Going forward, Lucas Digne has the capability to hurt PSG, but when faced with the pace and skill that the French side possess, he may struggle to contain his opponent at the other end - so we're backing the left back to be booked.

Aston Villa have earned a reputation for their set-piece quality this season, and in a game where Villa are unlikely to have too much of the ball, corners be another great avenue for success here.

After soaking up PSG pressure, Villa are likely to release attacking players such as Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers on fast counter attacks, resulting in shots and crosses that could be saved, blocked or deflected behind.

At the other end, PSG will look to force Villa towards their own goal as much as possible, camping around their box and looking for different openings. However, as Villa will be hoping to stand strong and limit the space, PSG may sometimes be forced into more speculative efforts that bring Emi Martinez into action, so we're backing 3+ corners for both teams here.

One of PSG's many excellent attacking options, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be a constant outlet for the French side, popping up all across the front line to stretch Aston Villa's defence and work openings for his teammates.

With that, he is likely to see a lot of the ball in dangerous areas, especially if Villa open up and are caught on the break, and the Georgian is known for never shying away from a shot.

In the opening leg of PSG's round-of-16 tie against Premier League favourites Liverpool, Kvaratskhelia had four shots on target in just 78 minutes of football, and Ladbrokes is backing him to test Emi Martinez's resolve a few times tonight.

This pick may raise a few eyebrows, but Unai Emery's gameplan will involve soaking up the PSG pressure before unleashing fast attacks - and we think that's how the scoring could be opened tonight.

The Premier League side have scored first in each of their last seven games, and are coming into this first-leg tie full of confidence after winning every single one of those matches. PSG will provide a unique test, with the French champions also supremely confident, but their dominance may not pan out the way they hope.

As Liverpool showed in Paris back in March, defending stubbornly and launching attacks can hurt PSG, and with the pace that Villa possess in their forward positions, Paris Saint-Germain will need to be very careful.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.