Aston Villa face possible Hibernian tie in Europa Conference League playoffs

Aston Villa will play either Hibernian or Luzern in the Europa Conference League playoffs later this month.

After last season's seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, Villa have been waiting to see who they will have to face in the final qualifying round of a competition won by West Ham United last season.

Unai Emery's side were placed in Group 3 of the draw procedure, being provided with possible encounters against the likes of Lech Poznan, FC Arouca and Adana Demirspor.

The latter were arguably the toughest option on paper, but Villa will now square off against Scottish or Swiss opponents rather than making a trip to Turkey.

Villa will travel to either Hibs or Luzern in the first leg on August 24, the reverse fixture taking place in the West Midlands on August 31.

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Hibs and Luzern are due to square off for the first time later this week, with Lee Johnson's team having had to come from behind to overcome Andorran club Inter d'Escaldes in the second qualifying round.

Meanwhile, Luzern, who finished in fourth place in the Swiss top flight during 2022-23, impressively took the scalp of Djurgarden at the same stage, their opponents having reached the last 16 in the same competition earlier this year.

At one stage this summer, Villa had been on course to be unseeded for the draw, a consequence of their extended absence from continental football.

However, the exclusion of Juventus and other potentially-seeded teams suffering early elimination saw the English side edge into the group of seeds.

Hearts will play either Hajduk Split or PAOK if they can overcome Rosenborg in the third qualifying round, while Northern Irish side Derry City will square off against either Viktoria Plzen or Gzira United if they are able to beat Tobol.