Aston Villa take on the visitors Olympiacos in the first leg of UEFA Conference League semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, April 2nd at Villa Park (Birmingham).
Indeed, probably no one could have guessed in advance that Aston Villa would be defending the entire British football empire in the semifinals of the current European cups. Unlike the much more advertised and recognizable Manchester City and Liverpool, Villa managed to advance far in this international season. Led by the maestro of his craft, the Basque specialist Unai Emery, who has specialized in winning the Europa League with various teams in the past. So, in my opinion, it is precisely thanks to their super-experienced and successful coach that the Birmingham team appears as the clear favorites here. Together with their charges, they are likely to find a way to breach the visitors' defense, relying on their previous victories over: Arsenal 2-0, Bournemouth 3-1, Wolverhampton 2-0 in the Premier League, plus Dutch Ajax 4-0 and French Lille 2-1 in the previous stages of the UEFA Conference League playoffs!
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
If we look at Greek Olympiacos, most likely no one will have any doubts about the significant difference in class between them and one of the leaders of the English Premier League. Especially in a situation where the Piraeus team will have to perform away from home. Traditionally, all representatives of Greece do not like playing away, deprived of their, perhaps, main trump card in European tournaments - the loud support of their home fans. Moreover, this Olympiacos's performance in the current European cups is not very inspiring. They previously had quite unsuccessful matches, for example, against German Freiburg 0-5 and Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-4, plus English West Ham 0-1 and Turkish Fenerbahçe 0-1. Something that Aston Villa have absolutely not allowed, consistently and steadily performing in Europe up to this point!
I don't think the Birmingham team will play cat and mouse with such an unpredictable opponent like Olympiacos. After all, embarking on a return journey to the fiery Piraeus stadium with the unpleasant name Karaiskakis without a positive margin would be quite a risky venture. Most likely, Aston Villa will take control of the situation from the very first minutes. They know how to do it perfectly. To secure a confident victory and not worry too much about their place in the final. In general, I would venture to predict an absolutely readable victory for the favorite in this match, which could be quite significant, considering all the circumstances mentioned above.
Prediction for the match: Aston Villa to win.
