Crystal Palace slated to play Aston Villa in FA Cup | OneFootball

Unai Emery has done well to guide Aston Villa into the semi-final round of the FA Cup. After overwhelming Preston North End on Sunday, they earned the right to play at Wembley. The other match will feature Nottingham Forest and Manchester City on April 26th.

Villa, on the other end of the fixtures at the iconic London stadium, will face Crystal Palace. This will be the fourth encounter between the two sides. Oliver Glasner has so far gotten the better of Emery in the two losses for AVFC and two draws. The upcoming single-game one-off can be a chance to turn around that in-season narrative, however.

For those at Villa, the past match results against Palace will be easy enough to forget about. After all, the chance of making it to the final stage of this competition is something that players throughout the training grounds will be excited about and eager to play for.

It was against a Championship team, but Emery's men looked good in their first action back from the international break. PNE found ways to test Villa and made things difficult for the Premier League club. In a way, it was an ideal first test back after an extended break from action.

Solid backbone for Aston Villa

Now with Marcus Rashford starting to come within the full fold at his true capacity, the attack with Marco Asensio conducting action in the midfield will be enough for Villa to be able to test any keeper. The backline having Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings securing activity in front of Emiliano Martínez is going to be difficult to break down.