Aston Villa v Cardiff

Aston Villa vs Cardiff Preview

Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery, will be demanding a response from his players after The Villans were soundly beaten 4-1 away from home at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace in the Premier League in midweek as the west midlands hosts turn their attentions to this upcoming 5th round FA Cup tie against Championship club, Cardiff City.

Cardiff City extended their mini unbeaten run to three games in midweek in the Championship with a welcome 1-0 home win against Hull City which in turn helped lift The Bluebirds up into 19th place in the second tier table and gives the Welsh visitors a welcome boost ahead of this upcoming trip to Villa Park.

Aston Villa slipped to a third defeat in 14 matches overall in all competitions with that loss against Crystal Palace in the nation's capital and followed previous losses to Monaco in the Champions League and Wolves in the Premier League.

However, it should be noted that all three losses were incurred away from home while Villa have also collected six wins within this period as well, five of which were achieved on home soil at Villa Park with victories gained over Leicester City, West Ham, Celtic, Tottenham and Chelsea respectively.

Indeed, results at Villa Park have been pretty consistent for Unai Emery's side who are now unbeaten in their last 14 home games, picking up eight wins, while Over 2.5 goals have featured in eight out of Aston Villa's last 10 home matches. in all competitions.

Cardiff City will make their way to the west midlands on the back of an encouraging and desperately needed 1-0 home win against fellow strugglers in the Championship, Hull City, in what could be described as something of a ‘free hit' for the Welsh visitors on Friday night.

Overall results for Omer Riza's side have been promising over the last couple of months as Cardiff City have stumbled to just two defeats from their last 12 matches in all competitions both of which came away from home in the Championship, losing 7-0 at Leeds United and 1-0 at Portsmouth.

The Welsh club have also collected four wins within this period by way of victories gained over the likes of Watford, fierce rivals Swansea City, Derby County and Hull City, while The Bluebirds have reached the 5th round of this season's FA Cup on the back of away wins at Sheffield United and Stoke City, the latter being on penalties after the scores were level at 3-3.

Goals also look set to feature in this upcoming FA Cup tie as seven out of Cardiff City's last 10 games in all competitions have resulted in Over 2.5 goals.

Aston Villa v Cardiff City Verdict

Both sides have been involved in high-scoring games of late, and this FA Cup tie may be no exception.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.50

Other side bets worth considering:

Aston Villa win & Over 3 goals @ 2.37

Correct Score: Aston Villa 3-1 @ 11.00