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Aston Villa v Crystal Palace: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Aston Villa entertain Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening with a place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals at stake.

The teams have different agendas this season, with Villa also competing in the UEFA Champions League and battling to secure another top-four finish in the Premier League

Meanwhile, the Eagles also have more pressing matters to consider as they battle to stay in the top-flight.

The teams' last two meetings produced contrasting results as the hosts won 3-1 the last time the Eagles visited Villa Park, but Palace scored a resounding 5-0 victory in an end-of-season battle at Selhurst Park.

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace betting tips and predictions

Aston Villa to win - 9/10

The EFL Cup is not likely to be near the top of Villa boss Unai Emery's list of priorities for this season, but a couple more wins in the competition could see the Spaniard eyeing up some silverware.

Emery understandably didn't field his front-line stars in the third-round tie at League One Wycombe Wanderers, but he was still able to field a strong side and they came through 2-1 thanks to goals by Emiliano Buendia and Jhon Duran.

With Tottenham and Liverpool coming up in their next two Premier League games and a UEFA Champions League trip to Belgium to play Club Brugge in between, it would make sense for Emery to rest his top-flight regulars in this game, but he has plenty of quality in reserve.

Villa's bench for their Premier League draw with Bournemouth included Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, Ross Barkley, Buendia, Leon Bailey, Boubacar Kamara and Duran.

Mixing some of those players along with more talented reserve and academy players should still produce a competitive line-up.

Palace have played two games in the competition so far, fielding strong line-ups against Championship clubs Norwich City and QPR, but, with a huge league game against relegation rivals Wolves coming up on Saturday, manager Oliver Glasner may also consider it prudent to hold back some of his stars this time.

Confidence in the Eagles camp should be rising after Sunday's 1-0 league win at home to Spurs, but their first league win of the season came at the ninth attempt and Glasner is finding things tougher this time around after an impressive start last season.

Palace have lost on five of their last six visits to Villa Park and, while both managers are likely to make changes, the likelihood is that the home side will still have enough quality to come out on top.

Under 2.5 goals - 19/20

Nine goals were scored in these teams' two league meetings last season, but a more restrained approach is likely in Wednesday's game.

Palace matches have been particularly goal-starved of late, with their last three games all decided by the only goal of the game, while just six goals have been scored in total across their last five matches.

While they are blessed with plenty of talented forwards, Villa's matches have not been ding-dong battles lately either, with four of their last five games finishing with under 2.5 goals.

The Villans kept clean sheets against Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Bologna in that time, but they have scored more than two goals only once in their last seven outings.

Emiliano Buendia anytime goalscorer - 4/1

Buendia has had to be patient this season, but has made the most of chances to start when they have come along and the Argentinian winger has notched three goals in two cup appearances so far.

He was by far the most experienced player in the Villa side when scoring twice in a 3-2 EFL Trophy win over League Two Fleetwood Town in September and he was also in target as Villa began their campaign in this competition at Wycombe.

Having been limited to a total of 20 minutes on the pitch in four Premier League substitute appearances this season, Buendia looks like a prime candidate to start in this match after he was one of the four unused subs in Saturday's home game against the Cherries. 

He hasn't let his manager down when called upon so far this year and looks worth backing to grab a goal against the Eagles.

Read more football betting tips and predictions on site

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace odds

Aston Villa - 9/10
Draw -
5/2
Crystal Palace -
31/10

View the full market and more odds for Aston Villa v Crystal Palace on site

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.

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