Crystal Palace v Aston Villa: FA Cup prediction, tips and bet builder as Villans take on bogey Eagles

With most of the big guns bowing out in the earlier rounds, it feels like there's new life and a fresh level of interest in the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are all in the mix for the trophy, alongside Manchester City who are the only big gun left in the show.

Whlie City have become rather familiar with this trophy in recent years, the same cannot be said about the three other contenders.

For instance, Villa’s last FA Cup triumph came all the way back in 1957, Forest last won it in 1959 while Palace, incredibly, have never got their hands on the trophy – or any major honour for that matter.

The Eagles may have never tasted success in this competition, but they are certainly familiar with reaching the latter stages considering this will be their third semi-final in 10 years.

Oliver Glasner’s side enter Saturday’s match on the back of an encouraging 2-2 draw away against Arsenal. Prior to their Emirates visit, the Eagles were thumped 5-2 by Man City, 5-0 by Newcastle and also endured a goalless draw with Bournemouth.

Villa, on the other hand, have been in scintillating form, winning 10 of their last 12 competitive outings.

Their two defeats during that run came against PSG and away at Man City last time out. There’s certainly no shame in losing to those two opponents.

Despite their impressive form, Unai Emery’s men will be cautious of their opponents following a string of poor results against them.

Palace are unbeaten against Villa in four games, winning three of them. This includes their February meeting which ended in a dominant 4-1 win for the Selhurst Park outfit.

The Eagles are evidently a bogey side for Villa, and they will be hoping that continues on Saturday night as they look to bag a spot in an FA Cup final.

Here we pick out some of our best tips for this juicy Saturday night meeting, and if you put it into a Betway bet builder you’ll get odds of around 7/1.

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa bet builder

Aston Villa to win – 23/20

Over 2.5 goals – 10/11

Jean-Philippe Mateta 1+ shots on target – 3/8

Dean Henderson 3+ saves – 2/5

Good luck and please gamble responsibly.

(All odds are correct at time of article publication)

While Aston Villa’s head-to-head record against Palace is a slight worry, it does not change the fact that Emery’s men will be regarded as favourites for Saturday’s fixture.

Not only are the Villans on a big winning spree, but they’ve also scored exactly three goals in five of their last nine outings. If you can get your head over the numbers, you’ll realise just how good that is.

Some of their latest wins have also come against top class opposition, including high-flying Nottingham Forest, PSG and Newcastle United.

Palace do not have a good counter argument when discussing form. Glasner’s men shipped 12 goals across their last four outings, including five against City and another five at Newcastle.

The Eagles were much improved against Arsenal on Wednesday, but it’s important to note that the Gunners had a Champions League date with PSG on their minds and weren’t quite at their best.

Still, scoring two goals away at the Emirates will give Palace some much needed confidence following a poor run of form.

Getting down to brass tax, we are going with Villa to get over the line in this one. Emery’s men look like a force to be reckoned with – especially when it comes to their recent goal output.

Speaking of goals, we’re adding over 2.5 goals to our bet builder. This has landed in five previous meetings between both clubs.

In terms of individual players, we’re backing Jean-Philippe Mateta to produce 1+ shots on target. The Frenchman scored an absolute beauty against Arsenal, taking his Premier League goal tally to 14 for the season.

We’re also backing Dean Henderson to make 3+ saves. If Villa can continue their recent attacking output, the Palace keeper is sure to have a busy night at Wembley.

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa: How to watch and listen

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa will be shown live on BBC One at 17:15 on Saturday, April 26. There will be full match commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.

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How do we create our tips?

Planet Sport has a rich history of providing quality, engaging and creative user-friendly content across a wide range of sports.

The Planet Sport team has more than twenty years’ experience working in the sports industry and use their knowledge, experience and statistical analysis to bring you the very best tips possible.

We specialise in clear, informative, data-driven tips, predictions and guides that will steer you in the right direction, whether you are a part-time bettor or consider yourself a bit of a pro.

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