With Champions League football back on the table, how motivated will Aston Villa be for the domestic cups? We'll find out when they visit Wycombe this Tuesday.
Wycombe's earlier struggles seem to have come to an end, as the team picked up its third win in League One last weekend. Matt Bloomfield's men dominated the full length of the fixture against Cambridge United but needed a late goal to win.
Cameron Humphreys scored his second goal in the 85th minute and secured Wycombe's fifth win in six matches. More importantly, the team has impressed with its attacking capabilities, scoring an average of 2.0 goals per match this season.
Their EFL Cup raid began in the 1/64 finals, where they crushed Northampton 0:2. What followed was a 0:1 win over Championship's Swansea in the 1/32 stage.
But now come Aston Villa, who have been almost impeccable since the start of the season. They currently reside among the Top 4 in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
As mentioned at the start, the Carabao Cup is unlikely to be among Unai Emery's priorities this season. We envision a considerable number of changes in the starting 11, although we definitely back the Villans to win this fixture comfortably.
How the bookies view it: No surprises here
As anticipated, all bookmakers agree that Aston Villa are a considerable favourite ahead of this fixture. Betano give them 8/25 to win away from home. Alternatively, you can bet on Wycombe at 15/2 or the draw at 21/5.
Recent head to head: Guess who won almost every time
Wycombe and Aston Villa have met a few times over the years and always for either the EFL or the FA Cup. Their last H2H was in 2016 when Villa won 2-0 at home. Overall, Wycombe failed to beat the Villans on all five occasions and the overall goal difference is 18:6 in favour of the team from the West Midlands.
Players to watch: A future Colombian star
Unai Emery is guaranteed to rest his star figures as Villa's program this season is one of the toughest overall. This fixture is the perfect opportunity for young Jhon Duran to extend his tally with a goal or two.
The 20-year-old Colombian has been on fire since the start of the season, coming up as a sub in five matches. He has scored four goals in 136 minutes on the pitch, making him Villa's top goalscorer.
Probable line-ups
Wycombe: Ravizzoli, Grimmer, Taylor, Low, Harvie, Morley, Udoh, Scowen, McClearly, Kone, Humphreys
Aston Villa: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Konsa, Bogarde, Maatsen, Barkley, Buendia, TIelemans, Baley, Duran, Philogene
Anything else catch the eye?
One way or another, we expect this to be the end of Wycombe's journey. But Aston Villa's squad will feature a number of fringe players and they already had issues in defence with their regular starters.
Wycombe may be able to match the pace for a while and betting on them to score is a good option. Villa managed to keep a single clean sheet since the start of the season, conceding seven goals in six fixtures to date.
At the same time, they scored 2+ goals in 5/6 games and 3+ in their last three (Everton, Young Boys, Wolverhampton).
This EFL Cup match between Wycombe and Aston Villa will be played on Sep 24, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Wycombe vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
