Aston Villa host Crystal Palace in the replay of their fifth-round FA Cup tie tonight. The first meeting between these two teams ended in a 2-2 draw after Villa twice came from behind, equalising in the 87th minute to force a replay. Palace, however, were furious as the goal came from a corner that should in face have been a goal kick. The cash-strapped Eagles hardly needed any more motivation for this match, however, and may fancy their chances with Martin O’Neill having to think ahead to his team’s Carling Cup final against Manchester United this weekend.
The hosts are strong favourites for the game at 2/5 (bet £50 to win £20 profit) with Canbet, leaving Palace as underdogs at 17/2 with Skybet. Villa have been in questionable form of late and last weekend’s 5-2 win over Burnley was on their second victory in eight matches in the Premier League. Their opponents tonight have also been poor, losing their last three league matches. The draw is available at 4/1 with William Hill, but Villa will hope to win the game in normal time in light of their weekend fixture.
The bookmakers believe a comfortable win for Villa is on the cards tonight and have made a 2-0 home win the most likely result tonight at 6/1, with a less impressive 1-0 win at 13/2 wit Skybet and a convincing 3-0 available at 17/2 with Canbet. A 1-1 draw is priced at 9/1, with 0-0 15/1 and another 2-2 at 28/1 with Stan James. A shock 1-0 win for Palace is priced at 20/1 with Paddy Power.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has been made favourite to open the scoring tonight at 9/2 after hitting eleven league goals already this term. The twenty-three year-old England international is followed by Norwegian team-mate John Carew, at 5/1 with Betfred, and fellow England striker Emile Heskey, priced at 11/2. Crystal Palace’s best hope of scoring the first goal of tonight’s game is seen as Darren Ambrose, who has scored an incredible 12 goals in the Championship this season despite playing in midfield.
Aston Villa are 11/10 with William Hill to lead tonight at both half-time and full-time and 7/2 to win after drawing at half-time. The bookmakers offer 7/1 that both halves end in a draw, as in the first leg, and Palace are as long as 18/1 with Boylesports to hold a lead at both the interval and the final whistle. The Eagles are 20/1 to win the match after drawing at the break.
Tonight’s hosts are the second favourites for the FA Cup this season at 6/1 with Ladbrokes and will have high hopes for the tournament after being drawn against another Championship side in the next round. Crystal Palace, in light of their opponents tonight, are as long as 200/1 to lift the FA Cup this season.
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