Aston Villa meets Basel in Europa League after win over Premier League leader Arsenal

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Boosted by a victory over the Premier League leader, in form Aston Villa meets Basel in the Europa League on Thursday.

After a slow start to the season, Villa bounced back to be currently on a seven-game winning streak in all competitions, including a 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday.

Beside a top-three place in the English top flight, the Villans are tied with Lyon and Midtjylland atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 12 points with four wins from five games.

“The most important thing is how we are building the team, how we are achieving in our process during each competition, our stronger mentality in everything,” manager Unai Emery said ahead of the match at St. Jakob-Park in Basel. Emery has won the Europa League trophy four times during stints in charge of Sevilla and Villarreal.

Lyon hosts Dutch newcomer Go Ahead Eagles while Midtjylland faces Genk at home.

The top eight teams after eight games go directly to the round of 16 in March.

At the other end of the 36-team table, struggling Nice will look to earn the first points against Braga.

Teams placed ninth to 24th advance to the knockout playoffs in February.

In other games, Nottingham Forest is away at Utrecht, Celtic and Roma meet in Glasgow and Maccabi Tel Aviv travels to Stuttgart.

In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace plays Shelbourne in Dublin and Fiorentina hosts Dynamo Kyiv.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Aston Villa players celebrate after Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia, left, scored his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Aston Villa's Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, in Tamworth, England, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A boat carrying migrants overturned early on Thursday on the Sava river in eastern Croatia, killing at least one person and injuring several others, officials said.

The accident happened in the eastern town of Slavonski Brod, by the border with Bosnia. Migrants were apparently trying to cross the Sava River in dense fog when their boat capsized, rescuers told HRT state television.

Head of the firefighters' in the town Ivan Vuleta said emergency services received a call around 5:30 a.m. that people were in the river and they rushed to the scene in rescue boats. Vuleta had first said three people died in the accident.

Police said a man from Bosnia is suspected of people smuggling. He has been hospitalized.

The migrants' nationalities have not been specified.

People fleeing violence or poverty in the Middle East, Asia or Africa often face perils as they try to reach Western Europe with the help of people smugglers who guide them over the borders illegally.

Migrants enter Croatia, a European Union member state, either from Bosnia or Serbia. The countries lie on the so-called Balkan land route for migrants leading from Turkey or Greece and through North Macedonia.

A Croatian police officer looks from the shore of Sava river near the site where a boat carrying migrants from Bosnia overturned in eastern Croatia, in Slavonski Brod, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nenad Opacak)

Croatian police officers look from the shore of Sava river near the site where a boat carrying migrants from Bosnia overturned in eastern Croatia, in Slavonski Brod, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nenad Opacak)