Aston Villa will have to pull off an incredible comeback against Olympiacos on Thursday evening to reach the Europa Conference League final.
The Premier League side fell to a 4-2 defeat at Villa Park in the first leg of their semi-final tie, giving them a mountain to climb in Greece.
Unai Emery’s side followed that loss up with another against Brighton at the weekend but they now need to bounce back to try and create a special European night.
Olympiacos haven’t played since their first-leg win and they will be confident of maintaining their two-goal lead to reach the showpiece.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: Watkins eyes record
Ollie Watkins is having a memorable season in all competitions.
The striker is the fourth top scorer in the Premier League, scoring 19 goals and providing 12 assists with two games still to play.
In the Conference League, he’s added another five goals in nine games and that has him on the brink of a record.
If he scores in the second leg, Watkins will move clear as Villa’s highest scorer ever in a single campaign of a major European competition.
He is currently level with Gary Shaw and John Deehan but will move above them with a sixth goal in Greece.
Emery will be pinning his hopes on Watkins to get the job done, however, Villa have a very tough task to avoid being sent home.
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- Olympiakos met Aston Villa for the first time in European competition in the first leg. Following their 4-2 victory, the Greek side could eliminate an English team in the
- Olympiakos have won three of their last four matches in European competition against English teams (L1) – in their 12 previous matches against such opposition in major European competition, they had only won twice. Prior to the first leg at Aston Villa, Olympiakos had already faced West Ham United in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League this season (2-1 H, 0-1 A).
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: Team news
Olympiacos will have Andreas Ndoj and Georgios Masouras back in action after they missed the first leg through suspension last week.
Stevan Jovetic could be back from an injury, however, Ruben Vezo, Gelson Martins and Nelson Abbey are ineligible to feature.
As for Villa, they will be concerned with Morgan Rogers’ fitness after he was substituted inside half an hour against Brighton.
If Rogers does miss out, he will likely join Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans, Alex Moreno and Emi Martinez who are all still recovering from injury.
Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings and Jacob Ramsey won’t play again this season.
- Aston Villa have lost back-to-back games in the UEFA Conference League for the first time – the previous time they lost consecutive matches within a season in major European competition was in December 2008 in the UEFA Cup, and the only time they have lost more in a row across different seasons was in 1983 (3).
- Aston Villa’s 2-4 first leg defeat against Olympiakos in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals was only the second time they have lost the first leg of a knockout tie in major European competition by multiple goals – they lost 1-4 at Royal Antwerp in the first round of the 1975-76 UEFA Cup and were eliminated after a 0-1 loss in the second leg.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: What has been said?
Emery has admitted it’s been a tough week for Villa but knows his side now have to prepare for three crucial games.
“We have to try to understand our progress and our progression,” he said at the weekend.
“Always I’m trying to learn with the players, with the club and try to use my experiences with them.
“We’re doing a very good season, enjoying Europe for the first time in a long time, we’re in a semi-final, sometimes we’re making some mistakes and losing.
“We have to think about the circumstances we have. Today we’re a little disappointed, a little bit frustrated.
“But we have to keep balance, try to rest and be strong on Thursday, next Monday and against Crystal Palace.”
- Olympiakos attacker Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Aston Villa in the UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg – it was only the second hat-trick scored by an Olympiakos player away from home in major European competition (excluding qualifying) after Konstantinos Mitroglou did so in the UEFA Champions League at RSC Anderlecht in October 2013.
- Olympiakos has scored 16 goals in the knockout stage of the UEFA Conference League this season, more than any other team. The 4-2 win at Aston Villa was the third time this season in European competition that the Greek side have scored 4+ goals (twice in the Conference League, once in the UEFA Europa League) – the only other time they managed to do so in a single campaign in major competition was in the UEFA Cup in 2008-09.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: talkSPORT coverage
This Europa Conference League semi-final second leg will take place on Thursday, May 9.
Kick-off at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki is scheduled for 8pm.
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Hugh Woozencroft.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend.
talkSPORT.com will also be running a live blog of all the action.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
News Summary:
- Olympiacos vs Aston Villa (4-2) LIVE commentary: Unai Emery needs incredible turnaround to reach European final – kick-off time, team news and talkSPORT coverage
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.