Aston Villa v Olympiacos: How Youri Tielemans can spark comeback in Greece
Youri Tielemans could be the man to spark an Aston Villa comeback in their Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against Olympiacos – if he is fit enough to start.
Unai Emery’s men suffered a disappointing 4-2 defeat at Villa Park in the first leg on 2 May in which Douglas Luiz missed a penalty and several key players were absent through injury.
The Belgian midfielder was one of those absentees and has missed Villa’s last two games – the first-leg defeat on home soil and the 1-0 loss away at Brighton on 5 May – but now has a chance of returning to the side ahead of the decisive second-leg clash in Greece.
Will Youri Tielemans start for Aston Villa against Olympiacos?
Tielemans was forced off in the first half of the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on 27 April, but his groin injury is reportedly not as severe as first feared, leaving the door open for a return in Greece.
Should he be fit to start, his comeback would be a timely one, given Emery just lost Morgan Rogers to injury in the first half of the defeat at Brighton and was forced to replace him with right-back Matty Cash due to a lack of available senior options.
The Belgian’s creative talents in particular will be useful as Villa look to overturn a two-goal deficit away from home in a European semi-final – no mean feat.
Tielemans boasts six Premier League assists this term and is averaging an astonishing 0.92 goal-creating actions per 90 in the competition – the majority of which stem from passes in open play (0.81) [FBref].
The midfielder also averages 0.92 through-balls and 7.28 progressive passes per game in the competition, evidence of his forward-thinking mindset in possession.
His overall passing accuracy (83 per cent) has suffered somewhat as a result of his willingness to attempt high-risk, high-reward passes – but a glance at his short passing accuracy of 91.2 per cent reveals his ability to retain the ball well when necessary.
In a game where Villa need to carve their opponents open and dominate proceedings, having Tielemans back would boost their quality on both fronts – if he is fit enough to start, that is.
In other Aston Villa news, Tim Iroegbunam has been tipped to snub a move to Ajax this summer after updates at Villa Park
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