Aston Villa vs Cardiff City

A place in the FA Cup quarter-finals is on the line as Aston Villa and Cardiff City go head-to-head at Villa Park.

Identical 2-1 victories over fellow Premier League rivals Tottenham and West Ham in the opening two FA Cup rounds saw Aston Villa set up this tie, maintaining hopes of lifting their first title in football’s oldest cup competition since the mid-1950s. However, Villa’s form has fallen off a cliff since overcoming Spurs in the previous round. They’ve only won once in four league matches, including a disheartening 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend (D2, L1). Villa Park forms the perfect backdrop for an imminent recovery, considering Unai Emery’s charges head into proceedings on a stellar 14-game unbeaten home run in all competitions (W8, D6). Yet, since beating basement boys Southampton 1-0 in early December, they’ve gone ten consecutive home games without a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, after a gutsy 1-0 win against Sheffield United in the opening FA Cup round, Cardiff City needed penalties to beat Stoke City and get this far in the competition for the first time since 2013/14. No strangers to lifting this trophy, Cardiff conquered the FA Cup in 1926/27, yet replicating that feat this season could prove a tall order. The Bluebirds set themselves up nicely for this fixture by squeaking past Hull City 1-0 at the weekend to halt an underwhelming three-game winless streak (D2, L1). But winless inside 90 minutes on their last five road trips (D3, L2), Omer Riza’s men must defy their travel sickness to progress into the next round against the odds.