Aston Villa v Cardiff City: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Aston Villa make their first FA Cup fifth-round appearance since the 2014/15 season and should be confident of going at least one round further with Championship strugglers Cardiff City, their opponents in Birmingham on Friday night.

Villa boss Unai Emery's team selection will be determined by a growing injury list, while Cardiff manager Omer Riza's will be decided by Championship survival commitments which the Bluebirds' chief has insisted outrank this game.

Aston Villa v Cardiff City betting tips and predictions

Donyell Malen Anytime Scorer - 15/8

Aston Villa are 2/9 to see off Cardiff City at Villa Park on Friday night in the opening game of the FA Cup fifth-round weekend.

With Villa 10th in the Premier League and Cardiff 17th in the Championship, Villa were always going to be short odds while the romantics can have 14/1 on the visitors.

Memories of what Plymouth did to Liverpool in the last round might persuade some to believe anything is possible. But with 11 of the last 16 coming from the Premier League and no representation left from League One or lower, the magic of the cup continues to be a rare commodity these days.

And right on cue, just as conversations about Cardiff possibly springing a surprise at Villa Park start up, City chief Riza says he won't be fielding his strongest side on Friday night.

This fixture comes three days after a gruelling 1-0 home win over Hull and four days before a trip to Burnley.

With Championship survival Riza's only objective this season, this tie is taking a back seat. As he said this week, exiting the tournament in round three might have been a blessing.

They have had to defy the odds to get to this stage, winning 1-0 at Sheffield United in round three and in a penalty shootout at Stoke in round four. They have only lost two of their last 14 in all competitions, drawing seven of those.

Villa boss Emery will also make changes as he did in the previous wins, both 2-1, at home to West Ham and Tottenham.

One player who started against Spurs and can expect another go against Cardiff is Donyell Malen, the Dutch international striker.

Malen did not get off the bench in Tuesday's 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace where Ollie Watkins did little to suggest he is undroppable.

Villa have a glut of injuries and a UEFA Champions League tie at Club Brugge next week, so Emery will want to protect as many of his first-team stars as possible.

Against Spurs in the last round, ex-PSV and Borussia Dortmund ace Malen fired off three shots and was a handful. Against Cardiff he can really shine and find the net.

Both Teams to Score - 21/20

Cardiff boss Riza may bemoan his team's workload and the gravity of their league situation, which is clearly going to influence his team selection at Villa Park.

But he is still blessed with a decent-sized squad and can still produce a handful of players who can be a threat.

A couple of them - Anwar El-Ghazi and Callum Robinson - are well-known to Holte End diehards, while Yousef Salech has impressed with four goals in a few fleeting appearances since arriving from Sweden.

The wins at Sheffield United and Stoke in the previous rounds confirm they can score on the road - since Christmas, they have also won 2-1 at Watford and drawn 1-1 at Middlesbrough and 2-2 at Millwall.

Villa defensively are less assured this season than they were last term. Matty Cash and Pau Torres are injured, keeper Emiliano Martinez has also picked up a knock. He may not have been picked for this game anyway, while new recruit Axel Disasi is cup-tied.

Both teams have scored in each of their last five fixtures and they haven't kept a clean sheet in 10 matches and haven't kept one at home since a 1-0 win over Southampton on December 7.

Corner Handicap - Cardiff +5 - 5/6

There are enough vagaries with corner counts to suggest an underdog to cover five on the handicap has to be worth a look.

The Bluebirds were pipped 4-2 on corners at Stoke in the last round but pipped Sheffield United 6-5 at Bramall Lane in round three.

They average 3.5 corners per away game in the Championship, while Villa averages 7.7 per home game in the Premier League.

But these won't be full-strength teams going into battle and Cardiff can cover the spread.

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Aston Villa v Cardiff City odds

Aston Villa - 2/9
Draw - 5/1
Cardiff City - 14/1

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.