Champions League Matchday 3: Aston Villa vs Viking facts

After an emphatic victory in their last UEFA Champions League outing, Aston Villa again have home advantage on Matchday 3 as they face a Viking side who recorded an impressive result of their own in their most recent fixture.

Previous meetings

This is the first game between the sides.

Viking's only previous matches against English opposition came in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup first round, when they lost 2-1 at Chelsea then won 4-2 at home to go through 5-4 on aggregate.

Villa have won both of their matches against Norwegian opposition, against Strømsgodset in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round (3-2 h, 3-0 a).

Form guide

Aston Villa

This is Villa's second Champions League campaign; they reached the quarter-finals on debut in 2024/25, losing 4-5 on aggregate against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Unai Emery's team lifted the Europa League in 2025/26, finishing second in the league phase (W7 L1) before beating LOSC Lille (3-0 aggregate), Bologna (7-1) and fellow English side Nottingham Forest (4-1) to reach the final, where they defeated Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul.

Villa were beaten 2-1 by Paris in the UEFA Super Cup on 12 August.

Viking

This is Viking's first Champions League campaign since 1992/93, when they lost 0-1 on aggregate to Barcelona in the first round (0-1 a, 0-0 h).

Viking have reached a European group stage/league phase only once, finishing fourth in their five-team section in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage.

 Links and trivia

Villa's 6-0 win against Fenerbahçe on Matchday 2 was their biggest in UEFA competition.

The English side are unbeaten in 14 home European matches (W13 D1) and have won the last 11, both club records.

Unai Emery's side have won 13 of their last 15 European games (L2), including 3-2 at Club Brugge on Matchday 1.

Villa have scored in 22 of their last 23 UEFA competition matches and have hit three goals or more in six of the last eight.

The Villans have kept four successive clean sheets at home in Europe.

Villa are unbeaten in their seven home games in the Champions League proper (W6 D1).

The Birmingham club's last eight Champions League matches have produced 34 goals, an average of 4.25 per game.

Nicolas Jackson has scored in both of Villa's league phase matches this season, three goals in total.

Viking's 3-3 home draw with Bayern München on Matchday 2 earned their first point in the UEFA Champions League proper. They had gone down 1-3 at Stuttgart on Matchday 1.

The Stavanger side have lost only two of their last eight European matches (W3 D3) and only two of their last eight away (W2 D4).

Viking have scored in their last ten European matches, while none of their last 13 has finished goalless.

The Norwegian club's last 12 games in UEFA competition have produced 53 goals, an average of 4.42 per game.

Zlatko Tripić has been involved in three of Viking's four Champions League goals this season (one goal, two assists).