Aston Villa and Cardiff City will contest the opening FA Cup fifth round tie of the weekend at Villa Park on Friday night.
Seven-time FA Cup winners Villa have seen off capital duo West Ham to Tottenham to reach this stage of the competition.
However, Unai Emery’s side will come into this clash off the back of a 4-1 thumping from Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
Seeking to get that midweek setback out of their system, Villa will look to book a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
As for Cardiff City, they have come through ties with fellow English Championship foes Sheffield United and Stoke City.
Omer Riza’s side are unbeaten in three league games following Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Hull City, a victory that has given them a fraction of breathing space in the fight for survival.
How the bookies view it: Villa set for victory
Aston Villa are understandable short-priced 2/11 favourites on Boylesports to get the job done inside normal time on Friday night.
Cardiff City are as big as 11/1 on Boylesports to pull off an FA Cup upset at Villa Park, while the 90 minute draw is an unfancied 11/2 with the same firm.
Head to head: History book dormant
Aston Villa and Cardiff will cross paths for the first time since meeting in the English Championship way back in April 2018. Villa emerged from that game with a 1-0 victory and the same scoreline this time around is trading at 7/1 on Boylesports.
Players to watch: Malen to make his mark?
Donyell Malen has still to get off the mark since arriving at Aston Villa from Borussia Dortmund but Friday night’s fixture with second tier opposition could represent an ideal opportunity for him to get up and running. The Dutchman is 5/6 on Bet 365 for a goal or an assist and that looks worthy of interest.
After scoring the only goal of the game against Hull on Tuesday night, Cardiff will look to top goalscorer Callum Robinson for inspiration. The Republic of Ireland international has been priced up at 4/1 on Boylesports for an anytime strike at Villa Park on Friday night.
Predicted line-ups
With one eye on their Champions League first leg showdown with Club Brugge on Tuesday night, Aston Villa boss Emery is expected to shuffle his pack on Friday night.
Cardiff’s already difficult task on is not helped by the fact that they could be without as many as six players on Friday night.
Aston Villa: Olsen; Garcia, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; McGinn, Tielemans; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Malen
Cardiff: Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Fish; Rinomhota, Mannsverk, Ramsey, O'Dowda; El Ghazi, Robinson; Salech
Anything else catch the eye?
With Aston Villa simply unbackable at the above-mentioned odds, instead side with a home success in a match that features under 3.5 goals at 11/10 on Boylesports.
As already alluded to, fixtures are coming thick and fast for Villa at the moment, so they may look to negotiate this game with minimum fuss.
What’s more, this bet would have paid out in eight of Aston Villa’s previous 10 home wins across all competitions.
This FA Cup match between Aston Villa and Cardiff City will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Cardiff City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Aston Villa vs Cardiff City Betting Tips & Predictions
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