Aston Villa v Cardiff City preview: Team news, lineups, betting odds, prediction
Aston Villa will be keen to bounce back from a humiliating defeat as they prepare to face Cardiff City in the FA Cup on Friday night.
The Villans fell to a damming 4-1 loss against Crystal Palace last time out, where a Morgan Rogers equaliser was cancelled out by three second-half home goals.
Now attentions turn to the fifth round of the FA Cup, where a second-tier Bluebirds side will be hoping to cause an upset away at Villa Park.
It is Unai Emery and his players’ jobs to make sure that this doesn’t happen to help secure a quarter-final place.
Aston Villa v Cardiff City preview
There is very little positive to take from the defeat at Selhurst Park as Oliver Glasner got the better of Emery once again.
The change in tactical approach by adding Lamare Bogarde in to form a back five didn’t pay off and ultimately led to questions of the head coach.
It feels likely that it will be back to basics for the Villans, who will be highly confident of securing a win against a side in the division below.
This can’t be taken for granted against a side who have lost just one of their last five games, including a win against Hull City in their last outing.
There is plenty of threat in the Welsh side’s squad, with Villa fans bound to be familiar with Anwar El Ghazi and Callum Robinson in their forward line.
With that being said, Omer Riza’s side do sit 19th in the Championship and will have one eye on their league survival as they turn up to Villa Park.
Aston Villa v Cardiff City team news
As per usual in the West Midlands, Emery is set to be without a whole host of first team stars with Donyell Malen the latest to drop out of the side.
The Netherlands international is out through illness and is set be joined by Tyrone Mings, who was an unused substitute in Croydon on Tuesday.
The Villans also look likely to be without Emi Martinez after he went off at half time against Palace while Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, Matty Cash and Pau Torres also look set to be absent once again.
It isn’t likely to be plain sailing for the Bluebirds, either, with Riza set to be without six first-teamers for the trip across the boarder.
This could see Joe Ralls, Ollie Tanner, Jak Alnwick, Will Alves, David Turnbull and Jesper Daland remain sidelined in B6 and absent from the FA Cup clash.
| Aston Villa injury list | Cardiff City injury list |
| Donyell Malen | Joe Ralls |
| Tyrone Mings | Ollie Tanner |
| Emi Martinez | Jak Alnwick |
| Amadou Onana | Will Alves |
| Boubacar Kamara | David Turnbull |
| Pau Torres | Jesper Daland |
| Matty Cash |
Predicted lineups
Aston Villa: Olsen, Garcia, Konsa, Bogarde, Maatsen, Tielemans, McGinn, Asensio, Rogers, Bailey, Rashford
Cardiff City: Horvath, Ng, Goutas, Fish, O’Dowda, Mannsverk, Chambers, Robinson, El Ghazi, Ashford, Salech
Betting Odds
Aston Villa: 1/5
Draw: 5/1
Cardiff City: 14/1
(All odds according to Bet365 as of 27 February).
Prediction: Aston Villa 3-1 Cardiff City
Aston Villa concede goals. That isn’t going to change no matter the opposition, especially with Olsen in goal.
As a result, it feels entirely likely that Cardiff are going to score at least one goal at Villa Park regardless of the side they put out.
With that being said, the Villans may prove to have too much attacking quality for the Bluebirds to deal with, especially if Rashford is handed a deserved start.
Adding his qualities with the likes of Asensio and Bailey behind him, there is every chance that Villa are prolific at Villa Park.
Emery needs to make sure that his side aren’t complacent and expectant of a victory which may not be as easy as they could think.