Unai Emery to make Douglas Luiz decision in Aston Villa team prediction v Olympiacos
Bryan King believes Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz will have learnt from his mistakes against Chelsea.
The ex-Villa scout believes the Brazillian will start against Olympiacos in the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday (2 May) despite his poor performance last weekend.
Luiz gave the ball away in the buildup to Chelsea’s first goal and was also booked during the 2-2 draw at Villa Park on Saturday (27 April).
But King – speaking exclusively to Villa News – feels that these mistakes will only benefit Luiz in the long run.
“It was his first Premier League game for a few weeks, and he did make a few mistakes,” King said.
“But I think those mistakes will only help Luiz and he will learn from them.
“Emery will want to finish as high as possible in the Premier League, but he will also want to win this cup because he knows what it takes to win in Europe, and I think he will start with his best team, which includes Luiz.”
Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz must put mistakes against Chelsea behind him
There is no doubt that Luiz wasn’t at his best against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
His mistake allowed the visitors back into the game and he needlessly picked up yet another yellow card, despite having just come back from a two-match suspension as a result of too many bookings.
But none of that changes the fact that he is one of the club’s most important players, and Emery will be keen for him to put the Chelsea performance behind him with a big display on the European stage.
In other Aston Villa news, one defender could be axed in two changes against Olympiacos.
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