Europa Conference League semi-final preview: Villa vying for final spot

When it comes to European Football, quite often some of the less ‘successful’ teams in their respective leagues weren’t given the recognition on the big stage, but with the introduction of the Europa Conference League, we’ve seen teams like West Ham and Roma lift some silverware in the past two years.

This year, we have a real mix of teams from the Premier League, Serie A, Belgian Pro League and the Super League Greece. As always, the teams thrive under the pressure of this competition, and given the nature of the fans and their passion, away games look ever daunting for the visiting team.

We preview both first legs of the semi-final below.

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Aston Villa v Olympiacos – Thursday 8pm

Our first semi-final sees Premier League side Aston Villa take on Olympiacos from the Super League Greece. The former have had the season of their lives sitting in fourth position in England’s topflight, with eyes on some European silverware to top things off for Unai Emery and his men. Olympiacos however are in fine form, having finished third in their league, with playoff positions pending.

Entering this fixture, Aston Villa are heavy favourites at 4/11 to win the first leg at home, with their opposition a large price at 6/1. If there’s a man to put Villa ahead and create a deficit it’ll be the super striker Ollie Watkins, who is 23/20 to score anytime in the match. Watkins is third in the Premier League top goalscorer table, with 19 goals, but also has 12 assists to his name which is higher than any other player in the league. Unai Emery has quite the selection of potential goalscorers, with Jhon Duran (13/8), Leon Bailey (7/4) and Morgan Rogers (19/10) all vying to etch their names on the scoresheet.

Olympiacos are one of the more high-profile sides in Greece and have a bunch of familiar faces who we are more used to seeing in European Football. with the likes of Stevan Jovetic who has been a new recruit for the Greek side this season, having had stints at clubs such as Manchester City and Inter Milan to name just two, and is 9/2 to hit the back of the net against Villa. Another familiar face is that of Daniel Podence who’s currently on loan from Wolves and 5/1 to score anytime during the match. The market leaders, though, are Ayoub El Kaabi (13/5) and Youssef El Arabi (19/5).

Fiorentina v Club Brugge – Thursday 8pm

In comparison to the other semi-final, this clash between Fiorentina and Club Brugge seems to be a more closely-contested game, with Fiorentina the favourites at 8/11 ahead of the Belgian side who are 16/5 to pick up a win in the first leg.

Fiorentina have a wealth of goalscorers in their arsenal, with Nicolas Gonzalez the market leader for anytime goalscorer at 19/10, slightly ahead of teammates Lucas Beltran (21/10) and Andrea Belotti (23/10). The Italian side have had rather disappointing league campaign in the Serie A this season, sitting at eighth in the table with five games to play, so if anything, they’ll be more than geared up for this game in their pursuit of not leaving empty handed after a stellar campaign in the Conference League.

Club Brugge on the other hand are pushing for a spot in next year’s Champions League having finished fourth in the Belgian Pro League, with five straight wins in their Championship round chasing down top-spot Anderlecht. Although underdogs ahead of this game, the likes of Igor Thiago (29/10), Andreas Skov Olsen (4/1) and Ferran Jutgla (19/5) will all be keen to put their best foot forward and net against the Italian outfit. For a team that is in immaculate form, the price of 16/5 looks a tad long to pick up a win in their opening semi-final leg.