Aston Villa will return to action on Friday night as they welcome Cardiff City to Villa Park in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The Lions haven’t been very convincing in the Premier League but they are still on the hunt for silverware this season.
Match Preview
Villa suffered a humiliating 4-1 loss to Crystal Palace in their previous league outing at Selhurst Park.
Unai Emery’s side restored parity through Morgan Rogers early in the second-half after Ismaila Sarr’s opening goal.
But Palace went on to score three goals past Robin Olsen who was brought in as a replacement for the injured Emiliano Martinez at the break.
The latest defeat means the Midlands outfit have slipped down to 10th in the standings, with five points behind the top-four.
Villa still remain in the mix for Champions League qualification, but performances must improve soon particularly after some of the high-profile signings they made in January.
As for Cardiff, they enter Friday’s fixture on the back of a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Hull City last time out.
Hull dominated possession but the Bluebirds sealed maximum points from the home clash after Callum Robinson’s decisive second-half goal.
Cardiff have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 11 years after impressive wins over Sheffield United and Stoke City.
Team News
Emery will be dealing with several injury woes this week, with Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana all confined to the infirmary.
Meanwhile, Cardiff will not have the services of Jak Alnwick for the remainder of the season due to a hamstring injury. Ollie Tanner, Will Alves, David Turnbull, Joe Ralls and Jasper Daland will also remain sidelined.
Aston Villa vs Cardiff City potential line-ups
Aston Villa: Olsen; Garcia, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Malen
Cardiff City: Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Fish; Rinomhota, Mannsverk, Ramsey, O’Dowda; El Ghazi, Robinson; Salech
How to Watch?
Football enthusiasts can enjoy this FA Cup game through football live streams.
Aston Villa vs Cardiff City prediction
Villa’s performances have been far from convincing this campaign, but they have too much firepower to comfortably beat Cardiff even though the FA Cup may not be their top priority at the moment.
Aston Villa 3-1 Cardiff City
