Aston Villa look to book their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Friday evening, with a fifth-round meeting with Cardiff City at Villa Park (ko 8pm).
Unai Emery's side will look to build on positive home showings in this season's competition, which have already seen them knock out fellow Premier League outfits West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur - each by 2-1 scorelines.
They are competing in the fifth round for the first time since the 2014/15 season, when they made the final, and will hope to extend their unbeaten streak on home turf to 15 matches in all competitions.
To do so, they will have to knock out Championship outfit Cardiff, who have reached this stage thanks to a 1-0 win at Sheffield United in round three, and a penalty shoot-out win over Stoke City in the fourth round.
They enter this clash on the back of a 1-0 win over Hull City, which lifted them six points above the drop zone in the second tier. It was a first win in five for the Bluebirds, who had picked up just two points from their four league outings prior.
Stats
Aston Villa and Cardiff City have met three times previously in the FA Cup, with the Bluebirds progressing twice (third round in 1926/27, fourth round in 1948/49) and the Villans going through once (third round in 1928/29).
In all competitions, Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last 15 home games against Cardiff City (W13 D2), winning the last seven in a row. Cardiff’s last Villa Park win came back in December 1954.
Aston Villa have reached the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign. They knocked out Leicester in that season’s fifth round and eventually reached the final, losing 4-0 to Arsenal.
Cardiff City have reached the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 2013/14. They have been eliminated at this stage in nine of 11 previous ties but the two times that they went beyond this stage, they then reached the final (1926/27 and 2007/08).
While playing outside of the top-flight, Cardiff have been eliminated from their last eight FA Cup ties with Premier League opponents. Their last victory was away at Middlesbrough in the 2007/08 quarter-final, winning 2-0.
Morgan Rogers has had a hand in three of Aston Villa’s four FA Cup goals in 2024/25 (2 goals, 1 assist), scoring in both matches. He’s also made the most dribbles of any Villa player (6), while he has the second-most chances created (4) and shots attempted (5) this season.
Villa and Cardiff have met just three times in the FA Cup in history, with this the first clash between the two teams in this competition in 76 years.
The first FA Cup encounter between the Villans and the Bluebirds came in the third round in 1927. Cardiff triumphed 2-1 on their way to lifting the famous trophy for the first and only time in their history.
Two years later, Villa would get their revenge, at the same stage of the competition in the 1928/29 campaign. Cardiff visited Villa Park, where goals from Arthur Dorrell, Joe Tate, Pongo Waring, Richard York and Joe Beresford (2) condemned them to a 6-1 defeat.
The two sides met in league action less than a month later, Villa triumphing 2-0 away, but then had to wait another 20 years to face off against one another again, in their third and most recent FA Cup clash.
In January 1949, Cardiff visited Villa Park in the fourth round, as goals from Ken Hollyman and Billy Rees secured their place in round five, where they would be knocked out by Derby County.
The Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides came in the 2017/18 Championship season, as Jack Grealish's late goal sealed all three points for the Villans against the second-placed Bluebirds.
A top-of-the-table clash in the second tier proved a hotly-contested encounter. Villa dominated, but it was the visitors who spurned the best opportunities.
Then, with five minutes to go, a free-kick was cleared as far as Grealish 25 yards from goal, who sent an unstoppable volley past Neil Etheridge and in.
The Villans would go on to lose to Fulham at Wembley in the play-off final, winning promotion the following year, while Cardiff went up to the Premier League, finishing second to Wolves in the Championship.
Team News
Unai Emery revealed both Emi Martinez and Tyrone Mings were doubts for Villa ahead of the clash - the former having been withdrawn at half-time of Tuesday's defeat to Crystal Palace - along with Matty Cash, and Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara, who are both closing in on returns.
The game will come too soon for Ross Barkley and Pau Torres who are stepping up their respective recoveries, but Emery hopes Donyell Malen will be able to recover from a bout of sickness to be available. Axel Disasi is cup tied.
Cardiff boss Omer Riza confirmed he is likely to field a weakened side at Villa Park, resting key players as they put their focus into the Championship relegation battle. Former Villans Calum Chambers and Anwar El Ghazi could make their Villa Park returns, and Dimitrios Goutas is back from suspension.
Jak Alnwick, Ollie Tanner, Will Alves, David Turnbull, Jasper Daland and club captain Joe Ralls are all sidelined with injury, and Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey may not complete 90 minutes, having recently returned from injury.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
“Firstly, we have respect for the competition. Secondly, we respect every team that is competing in this round. We are playing at home in Villa Park and we have to feel strong. To be consistent is our challenge.”
Unai Emery
“We have to manage the game accordingly and correctly. We have to approach it in a way where we’re not easy to break down. Then when we have the opportunity, we can’t lose the ball and give it back to them, we have to use the ball diligently, because they’ll be strong.”
Omer Riza
