Aston Villa chances vs Olympiacos in jeopardy with Robin Olsen dilemma
Robin Olsen will be forced to deputise for the suspended Emiliano Martinez when Aston Villa host Olympiacos in their Europa Conference League semi-final on 2 May – and it could hurt the Villans’ chances of progressing to the final.
Martinez, 31, was withdrawn at half-time of Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Villa Park on 27 April due to a hamstring issue – but was set to miss the first leg of the last-four clash with Greek side Olympiacos anyway following a one-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
The Argentine shot-stopper received the decisive booking in bizarre circumstances – he was booked for the second time on the night during Aston Villa’s successful penalty shootout against Lille but was not sent off as cards from regular and extra time are not carried into the shootout.
Olsen has featured only sporadically this term and being without their first-choice goalkeeper for such a high-stakes European clash is a significant blow for Unai Emery.
Aston Villa must now rely on Robin Olsen
Replacing World Cup-winning goalkeeper Martinez in a European semi-final is a big ask for Villa’s second-choice shot-stopper Olsen.
Concerns about his capacity to provide the same level of protection between the sticks are certainly valid, particularly following his substitute display against Chelsea at Villa Park.
It is worth noting that Aston Villa were 2-0 up when he was introduced, yet ultimately dropped valuable points in the top-four race. Not all the blame for allowing the Blues to fight back to 2-2 lies at the Swede’s door – but he must shoulder a reasonable portion.
Admittedly, Martinez had little to do in the first 45 minutes, making just one routine save – but Olsen fared much worse, conceding two of the four shots on target he was faced with [FotMob].
Additionally, those four efforts held a cumulative xGOT (expected goals on target) value of just 0.65 – suggesting that Olsen would certainly not have been expected to concede twice based on the quality of the shots he faced.
The 34-year-old’s Premier League save percentage is a mere 58.8 per cent, while his goals prevented tally (which is calculated by subtracting goals conceded from xGOT faced) of -2.76 does not inspire confidence either.
This term, Olsen has played 538 minutes across all competitions and kept just two clean sheets, conceding 10 goals in that period [Transfermarkt].
If Villa are to claim victory over Olympiacos in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final, they will have to limit the number of shots on Olsen’s goal.
In other Aston Villa news, a doctor has issued an “unfortunate” response following an update on Tyrone Mings.
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