It means that Villa welcome Crystal Palace in one of five all-Premier League EFL Cup last-16 clashes on Wednesday evening, with both sides jostling for a quarter-final place.
Match Preview
This season, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa proved their power in the knockout games as leading the Champions League group and are in exceptional form across all competitions.
In the last round of the EFL Cup, Villa defeated a resistant Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 as goals by Emi Buendía and Jhon Durán proved enough though Wycombe did get a late consolation.
In the Premier League, most recently, Villa were frustrated by Bournemouth – conceding a last-minute equalizer for a 1-1 draw after Ross Barkley’s goal had looked to seal three points. Still, Emery’s side goes unbeaten in 11 straight matches across competitions. While Villa are aiming to reach the EFL Cup fifth round for the first time in four seasons since their run to the final in 2019-20, their recent EFL Cup form at Villa Park has been patchy, having lost to Stoke City and Everton in the past two campaigns.
For Crystal Palace, led by the tactically astute Oliver Glasner, the EFL Cup has been a rather welcome respite from their league toils. They had not won any of their opening eight Premier League matches, but that finally came on Sunday with a slender 1-0 victory over Tottenham, through Jean-Philippe Mateta courtesy of an excellent Eberechi Eze assist. Palace reached this stage with a commanding 4-0 victory over Norwich City and a tight 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers.
Wednesday’s game is a first last-16 EFL Cup appearance for Palace since 2018-19. Their record at Villa Park, however, is not as encouraging: the team have failed to win there in their last seven visits, although they did famously beat Villa 5-0 at Selhurst Park in their final meeting last season.
Team News
Only a few injury niggles prevent Villa from having a full compliment of players to choose from, with winger Jaden Philogene back from suspension. Emery will most certainly make some changes to his starting XI, with the likes of Philogene and Saturday’s goalscorer Ross Barkley probably starting in his place. Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara might also begin, continuing their recovery from knee injuries to build up match fitness.
Crystal Palace – Injuries and Team News:
Chadi Riad (knee), Chris Richards (thigh), Matheus Franca (adductor) and Cheick Doucoure (toe) remain out. Jefferson Lerma was forced to go off with a muscle issue against the win over Spurs, while Ismaila Sarr also picked up a slight knock. Daichi Kamada could come in if he does not show up fit whereas Will Hughes could take the place of Lerma in midfield position.
Predicted Lineups
Aston Villa :
Olsen; Nedeljkovic, Mings, Carlos, Maatsen; Kamara, Barkley; Bailey, Buendia, Philogene; Duran
Crystal Palace:
Henderson; Guehi, Chalobah, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Kamada, Eze; Nketiah
Prediction
Both teams will showcase strong lineups this weekend in what is expected to be a highly contested match. Buoyed by morale, Palace may have a very good chance of forcing Villa into penalties. Home support and quality in reserve for Villa might give them an edge. Final prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace-Villa win on penalties.
