Ladbrokes' Festive Countdown Day 11: Donyell Malen to score

• Ladbrokes' tip on Day 11 of the Festive Countdown is for Donyell Malen to score for Aston Villa tonight.

• Villa play Basel away in the Europa League tonight, with Malen expected to start ahead of Ollie Watkins.

• The Dutchman is in good form, scoring two goals in his side's last Europa League game, a home tie against Young Boys.

Day 11 of Ladbrokes' Festive Countdown is a tip of Donyell Malen to score for Aston Villa in the Europa League tonight.

After Dominik Szoboszlai's shot on target against Inter Milan and Man City's win at Real Madrid yesterday, which featured as Ladbrokes' tips for day nine and ten of the Festive Countdown respectively, we turn our attentions to the Europa League.

The pick of the matches for the English sides takes place in Switzerland, with Aston Villa facing a tricky away trip against Basel.

Momentum is on the side of Unai Emery's team heading into tonight's game, with Villa beating Arsenal 2-1 at the weekend to cement themselves as serious Premier League top four challengers.

One man who didn't have the best game though was Ollie Watkins, with the England international having the chances to score at least one goal against the title favourites at the weekend.

As such, Malen will be keen to show he can be Villa's trusted striker moving forwards, and he's hoping that kicks off with positive contributions tonight against Basel.

The Dutchman has played all five games for Villa in the Europa League this season, scoring three goals. The former Dortmund man is scoring roughly every 83 minutes, and is expected to earn his fourth start of the competition tonight.

Malen is averaging over two shots a game in the Europa League this season, with over 1.5 of those ending up on target. Malen is getting shots off, and those shots often find themselves testing the goalkeeper.

With an assumed probability of just shy of 50%, backing Malen to find the back of the net tonight for Villa represents decent value.

At the end of the day, anything can happen in football. However, with Malen's Europa League form and a potential spot as the first-choice number nine in the balance, backing him to find the back of the net could be worth a punt.

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 1 - Aaron Ramsdale to feature in England's 2026 World Cup squad.

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 2 - Fulham to draw in their match with Manchester City.

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 3 - Arsenal to win a quadruple this season

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 4 - Man United to win their next two games

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 5 - Lando Norris to win the F1 World Championship

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 6 - Hugo Ekitike to score for Liverpool vs Leeds

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 7 - Angry Ginge to win I'm a Celebrity 2025

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 8 - Karen Carney to win Strictly Come Dancing 2025

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 9 - Dominik Szoboszlai to register a shot on target vs Inter Milan

• Ladbrokes Festive Countdown - Day 10 - Manchester City to beat Real Madrid

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