Aston Villa host Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, hoping for a victory that will see them through to the quarter-final stage of the competition. Villa will be looking to bounce back from their disappointment of Saturday's draw with Bournemouth. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace will come into the game full of confidence after beating Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Head-to-head record
The two clubs have met 23 times since 1997, with Aston Villa winning ten and Crystal Palace winning eight of those meetings. The last five results between the two sides (all in the Premier League) can be seen below:
Date | Score | Goal scorers |
|---|---|---|
19/05/2024 | Crystal Palace 5-0 Aston Villa | Mateta x3, Eze x2 |
16/09/2023 | Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace | Duran, Luiz, Bailey; Edouard |
04/03/2023 | Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace | Andersen (OG) |
20/08/2022 | Crystal Palace 3-1 Aston Villa | Zaha x2, Mateta; Watkins |
15/05/2022 | Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace | Watkins; Schlupp |
Last season's 5-0 hammering at Selhurst Park ensured Palace finished in 10th place, their highest league finish in nine years. Villa were certainly a shadow of their usual selves on that occasion, with many players rotated following a week of Champions League qualification celebrations.
The teams last met at Villa Park in September last year when Palace seemed destined for three points. However, a late fightback and dramatic turnaround thanks to a wonder goal from Jhon Duran, a Douglas Luiz penalty and a Leon Bailey finish at the back post gave Villa a 3-1 win. The London club's last victory at Villa Park came in 2013 when a last-minute strike from Dwight Gayle gave Villa a Christmas to forget.
Glasner's Palace struggling to replicate last season's form
Austrian manager Oliver Glasner took on the role of manager of Crystal Palace in February with the club sitting just above the relegation zone and having claimed just 13 points from the last 57 available. Under Glasner's leadership. the club had a fantastic end to the season losing only three of his first 12 games in charge. In the midst of that were convincing wins at home to Villa, Manchester United, West Ham United and Newcastle United, as well as an away victory at Liverpool. Palace fans were buzzing with excitement at the prospect of the new season and what it could bring. However, it has been a tough start to the new campaign and the club currently sits in 17th place in the Premier League on just six points from their opening nine games.
The departure of star man Michael Olise to Bayern Munich and key defender Joachim Andersen to Fulham were difficult blows to deal with, and have so far looked very poor compared to the bottom end of the 2023/24 season. Palace's star player Eberechi Eze has had a mixed start to the season, with three goals but performances being inconsistent. However, his brilliant assist to set up Jean-Philippe Mateta's winning goal over Spurs on Sunday showed just how classy he can be. He will be key in turning Palace's form around.
Palace have reached this stage of the competition having defeated Championship sides Norwich City and QPR in the previous rounds.
Team news
Aston Villa are likely to rotate their team around significantly from the side that played against Bournemouth on Saturday. Villa boss Unai Emery has admitted that the Carabao Cup is not high up on the list of priorities this season due to their commitments in the UEFA Champions League and wanting to repeat their fourth-place position in the Premier League last season.
Having returned to the pitch in Villa's last two games following an ACL injury, Boubacar Kamara is likely to start in midfield. Tyrone Mings, who has also returned to the squad following a 14-month absence with his own ACL troubles, is also considered likely to start despite not making an appearance off the bench yet like his colleague.
Aston Villa have no fresh injury concerns.
Crystal Palace meanwhile will be without the injured quartet of Chadi Riad (knee); Chris Richards (thigh), Matheus Franca (adductor) and Cheick Doucoure (toe).
There are also doubts over the fitness of Jefferson Lerma and Ismaila Sarr, who both left the field against Tottenham with apparent muscle discomfort.
Key players to watch
Jhon Duran will have the eyes of most football fans on him as he attempts to prove that he can be Villa's main man in attack. Duran has scored in both the games he has started this season against Wycombe Wanderers in the previous round of this competition, and against Bologna in the Champions League. He also has five goals from the substitutes bench to show what an exceptional start to the season he has had.
Robin Olsen is likely to start in goal with Emi Martinez being rested. Since Olsen signed for Villa in January 2022, he has played 17 times across all competitions and conceded 37 goals in that time at an average of 2.2 goals per appearance. Villa fans have had little faith in Olsen during his time at the club and is known to make silly errors, but his excellent performance against Brighton towards the end of last season showed he can perform at the highest level. If Villa are to be solid at the back, he will need to put in a commanding performance.
Eberechi Eze has three goals and two assists against Aston Villa in the past, and is the visitor's main attraction. Full of tricks and an exquisite dribbling ability, he will look to receive the ball in the pockets and run at a much-changed Villa defence. The England international scored in both of the previous rounds.
Predicted line-ups
Aston Villa: Olsen, Nedeljkovic, Carlos, Mings, Maatsen, Kamara, Barkley, Bailey, Buendia, Philogene, Duran
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Chalobah, Lacroix, Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell, Kamada, Eze, Nketiah
Match prediction
I am not full of confidence about this one. The club's priorities lie elsewhere this season and Crystal Palace are likely to play a near-enough full-strength side to try and push for the trophy. Should Villa gain control of the ball for large periods, they should be able to have enough to win this game but my head is telling me that Palace will be up for this one, playing a team that probably is not too concerned if they suffer defeat.
Aston Villa 1-2 Crystal Palace (Duran)
UTV