Aston Villa vs Olympiacos prediction, betting odds, picks for Europa Conference League semifinal first leg

Aston Villa couldn't have dreamed that as May begins, they would be fighting for a top four place in the league table, alongside contesting a two-legged European semifinal. Yet that's where they stand as they host Olympiacos at Villa Park on Thursday.

Hoping to fend off Tottenham for the final Champions League place domestically, Villa must also balance their presence in the Europa Conference League semifinals, with the first leg at home followed by a trip to Greece for the second leg next week.

It's an extremely difficult pair of mountains to climb simultaneously, especially while in the midst of a significant injury crisis which has tested the club throughout the season. It has seen Unai Emery and his squad rise to the challenge on several occasions, as Ollie Watkins guns for a Premier League Golden Boot while they have downed big clubs like Ajax and Lille in Europe.

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Olympiacos do not face the same difficulty of balancing two simultaneous competitions at this stage of the season, as they are almost surely out of the running for the Greek Super League title. They sit fourth in the table, five points behind leaders AEK Athens with three domestic fixtures remaining. They will be fully prioritising these two European games in the hopes of salvaging something tangible from this season for their incredibly demanding supporters.

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Aston Villa have been difficult to predict down the stretch of the season, with such vastly different results including a 4-1 defeat to Man City and a road loss at Lille juxtaposed with a title race-altering victory over Arsenal, all since the start of