Crystal Palace will take on Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday, 26 April, with both clubs looking to secure their place in the final at the end of May.
A trip to Wembley is somewhat rare for both clubs, although both of them did suffer final losses in the 2010s, with Palace losing to Man Utd in 2016 and Aston Villa losing to Arsenal a year earlier.
The clash on Saturday is a fascinating one in that both clubs come into the match in decent form, which makes it difficult to call a winner.
How the bookies view it: Villa go in as favourites
Aston Villa start this semi-final as the favourites with BoyleSports pricing them at 11/10 to get the job done inside 90 minutes. Crystal Palace have been priced at 11/5 to win the match, while the draw, which would mean extra time and potentially a penalty shootout, has been priced at 23/10.
Head to head: Advantage Palace
Crystal Palace's price of 11/5 looks extremely appealing when you consider their recent form against Aston Villa. The Eagles are undefeated in their last four matches against the Villains, with three wins and one draw. Aston Villa's last triumph over Palace came in 2023, but they haven't beaten them away from Villa Park since November 2021.
Players to watch: Who will Emery trust up front?
Unai Emery raised eyebrows across Aston Villa's two legs with PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals when he opted to play Marcus Rashford up front instead of Ollie Watkins.
Watkins has been electric for Villa ever since Emery took over in November 2022 and is on track to hit 20 goals in all competitions this season, which made the Spaniard's decision to drop him for the club's biggest two games of the season a perplexing one.
The tie with Palace has now become Villa's most important of the season following their Champions League exit, so all eyes will be on the starting XI to see who Emery goes with this time around.
For Crystal Palace, the team effectively picks itself. The man whom they will look to to provide some Wembley magic is Eberechi Eze. The extremely talented midfielder has scored three goals and provided three assists across his last six appearances for the club.
Predicted line-ups
Crystal Palace will welcome Chris Richards back into the team following his suspension, but they are without three players due to injury – Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucoure and Ben Chilwell. Aston Villa have a clean bill of health, meaning Emery has a few selection headaches ahead of kick-off.
Crystal Palace: Henderson – Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell – Hughes, Wharton – Sarr, Eze – Mateta
Aston Villa: Martinez – Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne – Tielemans, Kamara, McGinn – Rogers, Watkins, Rashford
Anything else catch the eye?
Aston Villa have been one of the most entertaining teams in England in recent months, with three or more goals being scored in each of their last ten matches in all competitions. Palace have also had their fair share of entertaining matches, with 16 goals being scored across their last four matches. Incredibly, over 2.5 goals is priced at 20/23 with BoyleSports.
This FA Cup match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa will be played on and kick off at 17:15. Check below for our tipsters best Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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