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Aston Villa vs Olympiacos Preview
English side Aston Villa will face Greek club Olympiacos in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final. The match will take place on Thursday, May 2, at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Aston Villa's head coach Unai Emery is aiming for another European triumph. The Spanish coach has already won the UEFA Europa League four times and now intends to add another trophy to his collection. The club from Birmingham is in the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time in 42 years, and it's hard to overstate what it means to the fans. On their way to this stage, the team topped their group with four wins, one draw, and one loss. They advanced past Dutch side Ajax in the round of 16 (0-0, 4-0) and narrowly defeated French club Lille in penalties in the quarter-finals (2-1,1-2 (4-3)).
Olympiacos will make their first-ever appearance in a European semi-final. The Greek club started their European campaign in the UEFA Europa League but finished third in their group, dropping down to the UEFA Conference League. They defeated Hungarian side Ferencváros in the round of 16 (1-0, 1-0), staged a remarkable comeback against Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the round of 8 (1-4, 6-1), and edged past Turkish side Fenerbahçe on penalties in the quarter-finals (3-2, 0-1 (3-2)).
The English club is considered not only the favourite in this matchup but also to win the entire tournament. Bookmakers offer odds of around 2.05-2.15 for Aston Villa to win the trophy and approximately 1.27-1.35 for them to reach the final. As for the upcoming match, according to Aston Villa vs Olympiacos odds, betting on the hosts to win is available at odds of 1.40-1.48. A success for the guests would be a real sensation and is valued at 7.05-7.15, with bookmakers also not favouring a draw (4.65-4.80).
Let's evaluate the current form of the teams and choose the most reliable Aston Villa vs Olympiacos tips.
Aston Villa Preview
The Birmingham-based club enters the first leg having lost only two of their last ten matches across all competitions (5 wins, 3 draws). One defeat came in the Premier League against Manchester City (1-4), and the other was against Lille in the Conference League quarter-finals (1-2).
In the Premier League, Aston Villa sits in fourth place, with a high probability of playing in the UEFA Champions League next season – they are seven points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who have played two fewer games.
For the first leg against Olympiacos, Aston Villa will definitely be without Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno, and Nicolo Zaniolo. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who sustained an injury in a recent match against Chelsea, will also miss out. Midfielder Youri Tielemans was also injured in that match, and a decision on his participation will be made later.
Olympiacos Preview
Reaching the semi-finals of a European competition is already a significant achievement for the Greek club, which has never reached such heights before. However, Olympiacos head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has experience winning European trophies – last season, his Sevilla side won the UEFA Europa League. Since Mendilibar's appointment in mid-February, the team has won 12 out of 17 matches across all competitions.
In their last Greek Super League match, the team comfortably defeated Lamia (4-1) and closed the gap to league leaders AEK to five points, with one game in hand.
In terms of the squad, midfielder Andreas Ndoj and forward Georgios Masouras will miss the upcoming match in Birmingham due to suspensions.
Aston Villa vs Olympiacos Betting Tips
These upcoming matches will be the first meetings in history between the two teams. Olympiacos has won only three matches out of 19 attempts in England, all against London-based Arsenal. The last time the team lost to an English club was quite recently – in November of last year, West Ham United secured a 1-0 victory in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.
Aston Villa has won all six home matches in the current UEFA Conference League campaign, indicating that Unai Emery's team is likely to secure their seventh victory on Thursday. Reaching the semi-finals is a significant achievement for the Greek club in itself, and objectively, the English side has a stronger squad. We believe that the hosts will achieve a convincing victory in the upcoming match, and as our Aston Villa vs Olympiacos prediction, we suggest betting on them with a handicap of -1.5. Our tip for this game is Handicap Aston Villa -1.5 at odds of 2.15.
