Preston and Aston Villa meet in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at Deepdale on Sunday afternoon in both of their first games back after the international break.
The hosts are the only team not from the Premier League left in the competition, so will be underdogs against whoever they face. Their last match against top-flight opposition was a humbling 3-0 defeat at home to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup in October.
Their form in the Championship has been stuttering, with a 2-1 win at home to Portsmouth last time out a first victory in seven for them in the league. However, an impressive 3-0 win against Premier League hopefuls Burnley at Deepdale in the previous round of the FA Cup should ignite some confidence into them as they welcome Villa.
In contrast, Unai Emery's side are in great form with four straight wins in all competitions, keeping three clean sheets in those. Villa boast the superior H2H record too, as they are unbeaten in the previous five meetings, albeit drawing four of those.
How the bookies view it: Villa to avoid “cupset”
Villa are unsurprisingly odds-on favourites to win in normal time, with BoyleSports offering as short as 2/5. A draw is priced at 10/3, while a Preston victory is 11/2 with the same bookmaker.
Recent head-to-head: Points shared in Championship clash
These two sides last met in 2018, when both were in the Championship. It was a 1-1 draw at Deepdale, with now AC Milan striker Tammy Abraham giving the Villans the lead, before an Ahmed El Mohamady own goal earned the hosts a point.
Players to watch: Can Rashford claim first Villa goal?
Stefan Thordarson scored in Preston's 2-1 win over Portsmouth last time out, and also assisted in the previous match. The hosts will need him on-song to have the greatest chance of causing an upset.
England manager Thomas Tuchel was underwhelmed by Marcus Rashford's performance in the Three Lions' 2-0 win against Albania at Wembley Stadium during the international break, and he seemingly struggled again in England's next 3-0 victory at home to Latvia. The Manchester United loanee is yet to score for Villa, could this game against lower-league opposition be his best chance?
Predicted lineups
Preston are missing a number of players going into this one, as both Sam Greenwood and Ryan Ledson are suspended, while Ryan Porteous is cup-tied and Kaine Kelser-Hayden is ineligible to face his parent club. That is without even mentioning the injuries, with Jack Whatmough expected to miss the rest of the season among a few fitness doubts.
Villa's squad looks much healthier and they will be expected to field a strong XI with a semi-final at stake. However, Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi is cup-tied, while the likes of Ross Barkley and Pau Torres remain injured.
Preston: Woodman, Storey, Gibson, Lindsay, Bauer, Brady, Whiteman, Frokjaer-Jensen, Thordarson, Keane, Riis.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen, McGinn, Tielemans, Asensio, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins.
Anything else catch the eye?
Marco Asensio has netted five times in Villa's last four wins, including braces against Club Brugge last time out and against Cardiff in the previous round of the FA Cup. Back the PSG loanee to score anytime at 7/4 with BoyleSports.
The last three H2Hs have actually seen both teams score, so backing against a Villa clean sheet could be handy with Both Teams To Score (BTTS) at 20/23 with BoyleSports.
As mentioned, Villa are unbeaten in the previous five meetings, with 16 goals scored in total at an average of 3.2 goals per game. Therefore, backing over 3.5 Total Goals at 9/5 with BoyleSports seems a reasonable punt.
This FA Cup match between Preston and Aston Villa will be played on and kick off at 13:30. Check below for our tipsters best Preston vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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