Aston Villa and Crystal Palace face off in the fourth round of the EFL Cup at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
The Villains made it past the third round for the first time in three seasons with a 2-1 win over English League One outfit Wycombe in the previous round.
Unai Emery’s side have since beaten both Bayern Munich and Bologna to put themselves top of the table in the new look Champions League.
Last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth was a minor setback though, so Villa will be keen to get back on track against Crystal Palace.
Oliver Glasner guided his side to the round of 16 thanks to a pair of wins over English Championship duo Norwich and QPR.
The Eagles head into this tie off the back of their first Premier League win of the season on Sunday, as they edged out Tottenham 1-0, in a game that brought up both of my Selhurst Park selections.
How the bookies view it: Villa to clip Eagles’ wings
Aston Villa are 9/10 favourites on Bet 365 to emerge from this cup tie victorious inside 90 minutes.
Crystal Palace are as big as 3/1 (Ladbrokes) to claim top honours, while an all square affair in normal time is trading at 13/5 (Betfred)
Head to head: Home comforts have been key
A recurring theme in this fixture in recent years have been the number of home wins, with both teams posting two apiece across the last four meetings. Villa Park has not been a happy hunting ground for Palace over the years, with their last success at this venue coming way back in 2013.
Players to watch: Duran on song?
I successfully backed Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran to score in Aston Villa’s round three win over Wycombe and I’m more than happy to support the same selection here at 5/2 on Bet 365. The Colombian ace has been one of Villa’s standout performers this season and he looks overpriced to make the net bulge again this midweek
Will Hughes picked up his fourth yellow card of the season during Crystal Palace’s aforementioned 1-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday. The tough-tackling midfielder could be worth siding with for another caution here once the bookmakers release prices.
Predicted line-ups
With fixtures coming thick and fast for Aston Villa, manager Emery is expected to rotate his resources against Crystal Palace this midweek.
Crystal Palace boss Glasner fielded a strong side in each of the previous two rounds and he may choose to do so again here with the aim of trying to build some momentum following Sunday’s success over Spurs.
Aston Villa: Olsenn; Nedeljkovic, Carlos, Mings, Maatsen; Barkley, Kamara; Bailey, Buendia, Ramsey; Duran
Crystal Palace: Turner; Clyne, Lacroix Guehi,; Munoz, Hughes, Kamada, Mitchell; Kamada, Eze; Mateta
Anything else catch the eye?
Crystal Palace merit support to hit four or more corner kicks at Villa Park on Wednesday night at 4/5 on Bet 365.
The Eagles have earned an average in excess of five corners per-game in the Premier League this season so far.
What's more, Glasner’s side racked up eight flag-kicks at home to Tottenham last time out, making them an appealing option to hit just half of that amount in this cup clash.
This EFL Cup match between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace will be played on Oct 30, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
