Olympiakos – Aston Villa 2-0 (6-2 after two meetings)
In a very unusual way, it is actually Liverpool, and not the opposition, who have a game-free midweek. Monday’s opponent Aston Villa was in action away to Olympiakos on Thursday evening. In the pot was a place in the Europa League Conference final.
Unai Emery has long been known to be a “Europe specialist”, a nickname he has more than earned over the past ten years. The Spaniard was, among other things, the manager of Sevilla when they beat Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the Europa League final in 2016. In total, there have been four titles in that tournament since 2014.
Great expectations were therefore attached to his Aston Villa team ahead of the doubleheader against Olympiakos. Nothing really went the Birmingham club’s way, neither last week nor on Thursday night.
With an “impossible” starting point after 2-4 at home, the burgundy jerseys had to win by a minimum of two goals to have a chance to progress. That hope was extinguished already after 14 minutes when Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored a hat-trick at Villa Park, scored 2-5 in total. That lead Emery’s men were never able to threaten.
Incidentally, Aston Villa start top in Greece: Martinez – Cash, Torres, Konsa, Carlos, Digne – Diaby, McGinn, Luiz, Bailey – Watkins.
Good numbers earlier in the season
It’s always interesting to see how teams perform after tough home and away games in the midweek ahead. For Liverpool, there was, among other things, a loss after the 1-0 victory against Atalanta a few weeks ago.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, have delivered quite well, both in the autumn and during the spring. Six wins, three draws and two defeats are the result before Liverpool await at Villa Park on Monday evening.
The best performance after a midweek European match must be said to be the away win against Arsenal, three days after Lille visited Birmingham. Admittedly, it has not gone well every time, and a good example of that is the 0-4 loss against Tottenham at home a month ago.
With tired legs taken into account, and perhaps a small motivational break after the European exit, Liverpool should have good chances at Villa Park on Monday evening. The Reds have then had eight days of rest after the 4-2 victory against Tottenham.
