Aston Villa vs Olympiacos: Preview, predictions and lineups

Unai Emery has earned a lofty reputation thanks to his work in European competitions and has guided Villa into the last four of the Conference League having previously lifted the Europa League with Sevilla and helping Villarreal into the Champions League semi-finals.

The Premier League side were forced to overcome Lille on penalties in the quarter-finals after surrendering a 2-1 advantage in the return leg. Emiliano Martinez once again proved his worth from 12 yards to send Villa through.

Emery’s men are taking on an Olympiacos side in the middle of a fierce Greek Super League title race. They currently sit fourth in their domestic league but are only five points adrift of leaders AEK Athens having played a game less.

Olympiacos, led by former Sevilla Europa League-winning manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, also squeezed into the last four having won their quarter-final on penalties. The Greek side beat Fenerbahce in their shootout 3-2.

Here’s 90min’s preview to Thursday’s Europa Conference League semi-final first leg at Villa Park.

What time does Aston Villa vs Olympiacos kick-off?

• Location: Birmingham, England
• Stadium: Villa Park
• Date: Thursday 2 May
• Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
• Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
• VAR: Paolo Valeri (ITA)

Aston Villa vs Olympiacos H2H Record

This is the first competitive meeting between these two teams.

Current form (all competitions)

Aston Villa	Olympiacos
Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea – 27/04/24	Olympiacos 4-1 Lamia – 28/04/24
Aston Villa 3-1 Bournemouth – 21/04/24	Aris 1-1 Olympiacos – 24/04/24
Lille 2-1 (3-4p) Aston Villa – 18/04/24	Olympiacos 2-1 PAOK – 21/04/24
Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa – 14/04/24	Fenerbahce 1-0 (2-3p) Olympiacos – 18/04/24
Aston Villa 2-1 Lille – 11/04/24	Olympiacos 3-2 Fenerbahce – 11/04/24

Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Olympiacos

Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Olympiacos (4-4-2): Olsen; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Luiz, McGinn, Rogers; Diaby, Watkins.

Olympiacos team news

The visitors are certainly without Dorion Leidner, who’s out for the rest of the season with a long-term knee injury.

There are doubts surrounding a whole host of players, including Andreas-Richardos Ntoi, Bandiougou Fadiga, David Carmo, Francisco Ortega and Vicente Iborra.

Former Manchester City striker Stefan Jovetic is nursing a knock and likely to miss out.

Olympiacos predicted lineup vs Aston Villa

Olympiacos predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Tzolakis; Quini, Retsos, Abbey, Richards; Hezze, Horta; Martins, Chiquinho, Podence; Navarro.

Aston Villa vs Olympiacos score prediction

This is a grand occasion for Villa and their fans in attendance will undoubtedly rise to the occasion on Thursday night.

Emery’s men tired against Chelsea at the weekend and there’s a sense his team are running on fumes right now, especially given the pile-up of injuries.

This is going to be a slog for the Villans against a wily Greek outfit, but they should take a lead into a tricky return leg.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Olympiacos