Olympiacos vs Aston Villa predictions: Hosts capable of finishing the job

Phil Agius

Spotlight

Ayoub El Kaabi helped put Olympiacos in a strong position by scoring a hat-trick at Villa Park

- Olympiacos have won their last four home games
- Aston Villa have won only one of their last five matches
- Recommended bet: Olympiacos to win

Olympiacos are in firm control of their Europa Conference League semi-final after they stunned Aston Villa in the first leg with a 4-2 victory at Villa Park.

The Premier League side are favourites to win the second leg but the hosts are expected to convert their two-goal lead into a place in the final.

Team news

Fran Navarro, Nelson Abbey, Gelson Martins and Ruben Vezo are not in the Olympiacos squad list for this competition. Stevan Jovetic and Mady Camara are sidelined through injury while Francisco Ortega was hurt in the first leg and is unlikely to be fit.

Georgios Masouras and Andreas Ndoj can be added to the home squad after being suspended for the first match.

Villa's biggest concern is goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who is able to be selected again after being suspended for the first leg but is still bothered by a hamstring injury and will be assessed before the game.

Youri Tielemans is also set to return and Alex Moreno was back in the team for the league game against Brighton, but Morgan Rogers is unlikely to feature due to injury and Jacob Ramsey, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings are long-term absentees.

The stats

Unai Emery's Aston Villa have just gone off the boil at the wrong time and were beaten 1-0 at Brighton last Sunday

Olympiacos have scored 28 goals in their last 10 games.

The Greek team's last three home games have all been wins with both teams scoring.

Aston Villa have won only one of their last six away fixtures.

Both teams have scored in six of Olympiacos' last seven games.

Both teams have scored in seven of Villa's last nine matches.

Olympiacos' Ayoub El Kaabi has scored 19 goals in his last 20 appearances.

The latest Olympiacos vs Aston Villa odds are on LiveScore Bet

Prediction

Olympiacos enjoyed some good fortune in their 4-2 first-leg win over Aston Villa but they look a good price at 2/1 with LiveScore Bet to make it a double over the Premier League team in front of their own fans.

The final goal of the Villa Park contest took a wicked deflection and Villa's Douglas Luiz failed to convert a penalty which would have given Unai Emery's team a much better chance of turning the tie around, but many of Villa's errors were forced by an effervescent Greek team.

With Villa having to take a positive approach in the second leg, they could be vulnerable to further mistakes in what will be a hostile atmosphere.

Olympiacos have won 13 of their 17 home league games in Greece this season and have the man to punish any errors from Villa in Ayoub El Kaabi, who netted a hat-trick in the first match and has scored an impressive 19 goals in his last 20 games.

The home side have had a whole week to prepare for this match, while Villa were in league action at Brighton on Sunday, when they failed to give themselves a confidence boost by losing 1-0.

Olympiacos had also scored four goals in their last match before travelling to England and have plenty of firepower to respond to anything Villa can throw at them.

They will be desperate to reach their first European final and 2/1 with LiveScore Bet for a home win in the second leg is attractive.

Back Olympiacos to win at 2/1 with LiveScore Bet.