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England FA Cup - Aston Villa VS Cardiff City Prediction
England FA Cup - Aston Villa VS Cardiff City
Match Time:01-03-2025 04:00 Saturday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Aston Villa
Unai Emery will be keen to rotate his pack following a disappointing midweek outing against Crystal Palace, as he might mostly change things up in the attack. Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio are in line for starts, while the manager might revert to a different system compared to the back three deployed at Selhurst Park.
Tyrone Mings’s minutes are still being managed, as he sat out the visit to Crystal Palace as an unused substitute. He will be in line for a start against Cardiff City as Emery reverts to a back four. At the same time, Ezri Konsa features in the other central defensive position as Axel Disasi drops out as he is ineligible. Andres Garcia and Ian Maatsen will feature in the full-back roles.
The bigger concern for Emery comes in the position behind his defence. Emiliano Martinez was taken off with a suspected hamstring problem at half-time against Crystal Palace. Robin Olsen replaced the Argentine in midweek and could be in line for a start against Cardiff City.
Emery continues to be without some of his key starters, including Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, and Ross Barkley. Hence, Aston Villa could line up with a midfield pairing of John McGinn and Youri Tielemans. The manager is also likely to rest his key attackers, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, with Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey set to join Asensio and Rashford in the attacking third.
Cardiff City
Cardiff City will be without starting keeper Jak Alnwick, who will miss the remainder of the season with a torn hamstring. USMNT star Ethan Horvath is the likely starter for this clash between the sticks against Villa. Omer Riza also has Ollie Tarner missing out, while Will Alves, David Turnbull, Jesper Daland, and skipper Joe Ralls are all out of contention ahead of this trip to Birmingham.
There are also concerns over veteran Aaron Ramsey’s workload. He has only recently returned from a long lay-off, meaning he might still start but may not last the entire ninety minutes. Villa Park can also witness a familiar face in Anwar El-Ghazi, who will want to make an impact on the pitch, while Riza can also recall centre-back Dimitrios Goutas following a ban.
Following the win over Hull City courtesy of a goal from Robinson, who incidentally matched his best scoring season with 12 Championship goals, he will be a key man for Cardiff in the final third. Yousef Saleh will lead the line for the Bluebirds at Villa Park.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Garcia, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Malen
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Fish; Rinomhota, Mannsverk, Ramsey, O'Dowda; El Ghazi, Robinson; Salech
Aston Villa vs Cardiff City Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
Cardiff have won two of their last three competitive games against Aston Villa, with their most recent win coming in 2017. However, the Villains have come out on top in their last four home games with Cardiff dating back to 2009.
Aston Villa's loss to Crystal Palace this Tuesday was probably their worst performance of the season to date. However, it is worth noting that Unai Emery's side have not lost a home match since August, an unbeaten run of 20 games across all competitions.
Cardiff are unbeaten in their last three games and most recently edged past Hull City. The Bluebirds, though, have only won twice on the road this season, most recently overcoming Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.
Aston Villa have beaten two Premier League opponents to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, overcoming West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur. Interestingly, they have been drawn at home in all three of their FA Cup ties, contrasting with Cardiff, who have been the away side in all three of theirs.
Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers has scored 12 goals in all competitions this season, and has found the net in both of his previous FA Cup games, including the winner against West Ham in the third round.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Cardiff City
Cardiff's last Villa Park win dates back to December 1954, and that long wait for a victory will continue as they exit the FA Cup. Villa may have eyes elsewhere - an important Champions League tie, and a faltering top-flight campaign - and their defence is often caught out, but they have too much firepower to suffer a humbling home defeat.
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