Aston Villa have a mountain to climb this Thursday when they travel to Olympiacos Piraeus in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.
The 1982 European champions trailed 4-2 in the first leg at Villa Park, with a hat-trick from Ayoub El Kaabi leading the Greek side to victory. Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby got on the scoresheet, but a late missed penalty from Douglas Luiz means Unai Emery’s team’s chances for the second leg are slim.
Villa also failed on their way to Champions League qualification last Sunday, losing 1-0 away to Brighton. Luckily for the Villans, Tottenham also suffered defeat at Liverpool, meaning they are now just three points from their last two games to secure a place in the top four.
Olympiacos are still in contention for the Greek Super League title themselves and have enjoyed a week’s break ahead of Villa’s visit.
Here is 90 minutes Guide to Olympiacos vs Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa H2H record (all-time)
Current form (all competitions)
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Olympiakos |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
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Aston Villa 2-4 Olympiacos – 05/02/24 |
Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa – 05/05/24 |
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Olympiacos Piraeus – Lamia 4:1 – 04/28/24 |
Aston Villa 2-4 Olympiacos – 05/02/24 |
|
Aris Thessaloniki 1-1 Olympiacos – 04/24/24 |
Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea – 04/27/24 |
|
Olympiacos Piraeus 2-1 PAOK – 04/21/24 |
Aston Villa 3-1 Bournemouth – 04/21/24 |
|
Fenerbahce – Olympiacos Piraeus 1-0 (2-3 on penalties) – 04/18/24 |
Lille 2-1 Aston Villa (3-4 on penalties) – 04/18/24 |
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country |
TV channels / live stream |
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Great Britain |
TNT Sports 1, Discovery+, Discovery+ app |
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United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
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Canada |
DAZN |
Olympiacos will be without a number of players for the visit of Aston Villa, including former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic. Doron Leidner and Andreas-Richardos Ntoi are also missing from the Greek team, while Ruben Vezo, Nelson Abbey and winger Gelson Martins are all not eligible to play.
Andreas Ndoj and Georgios Masouras return from suspension but may not start against Villa.
Predicted line-up of Olympiacos Piraeus against Aston Villa (4-3-2-1): Tzolakis; Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Richards; Hezze, Iborra, Chiquinho; Fortounis, Podence; El Kaabi.
Aston Villa’s extensive injury list and busy schedule have started to catch up with Aston Villa in recent weeks, with Emery missing some key contributors.
The quartet of Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia and Jacob Ramsey are out for the remainder of the season, while January signing Morgan Rogers may not be available for Thursday’s game.
Both Nicolo Zaniolo and Youri Tielemans have a good chance of playing in Piraeus, while Emiliano Martinez, who missed the first leg due to suspension and injury, could return from a hamstring injury that also kept him out of the weekend defeat to Brighton.
Predicted lineup of Aston Villa against Olympiacos (4-4-2): Martínez; Cash, Carlos, Konsa, Moreno; Bailey, Luiz, McGinn, Zaniolo; Diaby, Watkins.
While Aston Villa have impressed mightily both domestically and in Europe this season, they will find it incredibly difficult to overcome a two-goal deficit in Greece on Thursday. At the height of a busy season, they start to run out of energy and their tired legs can be exposed.
Olympiacos have been in strong form recently and enjoyed a week’s break between the two games. That extra time off the field could do them a world of good this week.