Crystal Palace v Aston Villa tips:
- Aston Villa to win and both teams to score - 7/2 Bet365
- Jean-Philippe Mateta and Morgan Rogers to have one shot on target - 37/20 Betway
Crystal Palace and Aston Villa go head-to-head in the first of the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on Saturday (kick-off 5:15pm, live on BBC One).
Palace go into the game fresh from holding Arsenal to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates on Wednesday, while Villa were on the receiving end of a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Manchester City 24 hours earlier.
A goal from Eberechi Eze and a wonder strike from Jean-Philippe Mateta cancelled out goals from Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard to all but hand Liverpool the Premier League title.
Palace have never won the FA Cup but have been beaten finalists twice, losing to Manchester United in 1990 and again in 2016.
Villa, though, do have plenty of history in this competition and are looking for their eighth title, but you have to go back to 1957 when they beat United 2-1 at Wembley.
They have reached the final twice since then, beaten by Chelsea in 2000 and Arsenal in 2015.
Football betting sites have Villa as second favourites to lift the trophy, behind last season’s beaten finalists Manchester City, at 3/1, while you can get 11/2 on Palace to win the competition for the first time.
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa betting: Villa to nick it
This will be the fourth meeting between the two sides this season and Palace have won two of the meetings, while the other - the Premier League tie at Villa Park ended 2-2.
They also met in Birmingham in the League Cup back in October, when goals from Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada gave Palace the win.
Their most recent meeting came in February when the home side ran out 4-1 winners at Selhurst Park, with two goals from Ismaila Sarr and strikes from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah.
That defeat is one of just three losses Villa have experienced since 1 February, with 12 wins from their last 17 games.
Palace have also hit form at the right time and have also lost just three since the beginning of February, winning eight of their 14 games to move them up to 12th in the table, five places and 12 points behind Villa.
After enjoying their first season in the Champions League and reaching the quarter-finals, Unai Emery’s side are battling hard to ensure they can qualify again next season, but there is no doubt they would also love to cap their season with a trophy.
Eight of the last meetings between the sides have seen both teams scoring and the fact that Villa have scored in their last 17 games and Palace have netted in 16 of their last 18 it seems pretty likely on Saturday, but I think Villa might just edge it based on their attacking options.
Betting sites are backing Villa for the win at 6/5, while you can get 5/2 on both a Palace win and the game to be all square after 90 minutes.
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa prediction 1: Aston Villa to win and both teams to score - 7/2 Bet365
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa prediction: Mateta & Rogers to deliver
For our second tip for this one we’re going for something a bit different from Betway.
With so many attacking options for both sides, there are plenty of scoring bets you could choose from, especially with Eze, Mateta, Ollie Watkins, Marco Asensio, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers all in such good form.
Betting apps are offering some great odds such as 13/2 on Mateta to score first and 6/1 on Rashford to score last which is a good option if he starts on the bench, but we’re going on this special that seems like a no brainer.
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa prediction 2: Jean-Philippe Mateta and Morgan Rogers to have one shot on target - 37/20 Betway
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