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Aston Villa have a two-goal deficit to overturn as they travel to Piraeus to take on Olympiacos in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final. Riding on the back of a few solid performances in the Premier League, Villa would have fancied their chances as they welcomed Olympiacos to Villa Park last week.
But the Greek side left Unai Emery's team well beaten by the end of the night, recording a 4-2 win away from home.
It was a triumphant night for Olympiacos, and they can be proud of their performance against Villa on enemy territory last week. El Kaabi scored a hat-trick before Santiago Hezze found the back of the net to help his side register a rare win on English soil.
Olympiacos' manager Jose Luis Mendilibar led Sevilla to a triumphant run in the competition last season and is now edging closer to a wonderful achievement with the Greek club.
Villa need to overturn the two-goal deficit to progress to the final as they travel to Greece this Thursday night. Emery's unit need to bounce back and return to winning ways as they have now gone three matches without a victory in all competitions.
They suffered a loss in their latest outing against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
While a spot in next season's Champions League is not yet confirmed, Villa will focus on their immediate goal of winning silverware and as such, they are fully expected to play with plenty of intent and conviction on Thursday.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
This is only the second-ever meeting between Olympiacos and Aston Villa. The first leg of this Conference League was the first-ever contest between the two sides and Olympiacos won the game 4-2.
Olympiacos are unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions. They have won four of their last five European home matches.
Aston Villa have failed to score more than one goal in five of their last six away games in all competitions. They failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five matches across all competitions.
Olympiacos form guide: W-W-D-L-W
Aston Villa form guide: L-L-D-W-W
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa Team News
Olympiacos
Ruben Vezo, Gelson Martins and Nelson Abbey won't feature for Olympiacos as they are ineligible to play in the competition. Stevan Jovetic continues to be sidelined due to injury. However, the duo of Georgios Masouras and Andreas Ndoj are set to return to the squad after being suspended for the first leg.
Injured: Doron Leidner, Stevan Jovetic
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Ruben Vezo, Gelson Martins and Nelson Abbey
Aston Villa
Emiliano Martinez's return should be a huge boost for Aston Villa. However, their injury list is still quite long. Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey, Tyrone Mings and Youri Tielemans are all injured. Morgan Rogers could be available to play here.
Injured: Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey, Tyrone Mings and Youri Tielemans
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa Team News
Olympiacos Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Konstantinos Tzolakis; Rodinei, Panagiotis Retsos, Andreas-Richardos Ntoi, Francisco Ortega; Iborra, Santiago Hezze, Daniel Podence, Chiquinho, Giorgos Masouras; Ayoub El Kaabi
Aston Villa Predicted XI (4-4-2): Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Leon Bailey; Moussa Diaby, Ollie Watkins
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa Prediction
Olympiacos are the better rested of the two sides as they did not have any football commitments last weekend. They played with plenty of vigour in the first leg and we expect nothing different from them at home this Thursday.
Villa will need to turn in an assured display on both sides of the ground to have any chance of progressing to the final. But given their current form, it would be difficult for them to turn this one around.
Prediction: Olympiacos 2-2 Aston Villa (Olympiacos to win 6-4 on aggregate)
