It’s been good to switch off for a few weeks, clear the head and recharge the batteries, but diving back into a UEFA Super Cup preview reminds me exactly why I’ve missed this game. The back‑and‑forth with the bookies, the hunt for the angles they’ve overlooked, the little mismatches you spot before the markets wake up, that’s the stuff that keeps you sharp.
The new campaign is here, the stakes are back on the table, and I’m itching to get stuck straight into it. Fresh season, fresh edges, fresh opportunities to make the bookmakers sweat.
Odds provided by Stake.com.
PSG v Aston Villa
European Super Cup, Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria, 9pm CET, Wednesday 12th August
Prices: 1.82 PSG, 3.80 Draw, 4.40 Aston Villa; To lift the trophy: 1.37 PSG, 3.00 Aston Villa
The European Super Cup rolls into Salzburg, and both sides arrive looking like they’ve spent pre‑season trying to assemble flat‑pack furniture without the instructions.
PSG have played two matches, lost to Mallorca, drew with Manchester United, and somehow still resemble a team stretching out after a long winter. Fabian Ruiz, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué… none of them have featured yet, but apparently the whole squad is available. Classic PSG: disjointed preparation, star‑studded solutions.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, have been on a global tour that would make a rock band blush. They’ve just lost 2–1 to Bayern Munich, but at least they’ve had minutes in the legs and a bit more predictability in their patterns. Unai Emery’s sides usually click quicker than most, even when the itinerary looks like a FIFA career mode save gone rogue.
There’s also the subplot: Lucas Digne returning to PSG, potentially making his Villa debut against the club he left. Lovely narrative, but Villa have lost Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, two of their most influential players, and that’s the kind of absence you feel in a match like this.
Especially when the opposition have a Georgian genius ready to be unleashed.
Because yes, my favourite Kvicha Kvaratskhelia should start. No World Cup minutes, no fatigue, just pure electricity waiting to be plugged in. He’s the best player on the pitch by a distance, and this is exactly the sort of game he decides. PSG don’t need cohesion when they have him, they just need the ball to reach his feet in the right zones, and Villa will be praying it doesn’t happen too often.
We’ve seen this fixture produce chaos before. Tottenham scored twice against PSG in the Super Cup twelve months ago, only for the Parisians to claw back a 2–2 draw and win on penalties. That was a more settled PSG side, and Spurs still found joy.
So with both teams fragmented, both managers naturally expansive, and Emery being a European specialist who never turns up to these games to sit in a shell, this has all the ingredients for an open affair. The both teams to score price looks generous, too generous, given the state of both squads.
And then there’s Kvaratskhelia. He’s always a play. He’s the needle‑mover, the match‑winner, the one Villa won’t have an answer for. If this game opens up, and it should, he’s the one who’ll tilt it.
Tip: Both teams to score @ 1.83. 1 unit; Kvicha Kvaratskhelia to assist @ 3.25. 0.5 units; Kvicha Kvaratskhelia to score @ 2.85. 0.5 units
Check out For Foot Sake’s tipping record here.