Aston Villa face their first FA Cup quarter-final clash in 10 years on Sunday afternoon, when travelling to Deepdale to take on Preston North End.
Unai Emery's side return to action following the international break, with their first outing since a 3-0 Champions League last 16 second leg win over Club Brugge. Affairs in Lancashire are set to get underway at 1.30pm, with a place in a Wembley semi-final awaiting the winner.
The Villans will be looking to complete a perfect March, after a 3-1 win in Bruges in the first leg was followed by a 1-0 triumph on the road at Brentford in the Premier League, ahead of the second leg. In this competition thus far, Emery's men have recorded wins at Villa Park over West Ham United (2-1 in round three), Tottenham Hotspur (2-1 in round four) and Cardiff City (2-0 in round five).
Preston will be competing at the last eight stage of the FA Cup for the first time since 1966, having overcame Burnley, Wycombe Wanderers and Charlton Athletic so far in this season's competition.
Managed by Paul Heckingbottom, the Lilywhites are unbeaten in their last 15 outings on home soil, keeping four clean sheets in their last six at Deepdale, though have only won one of their last seven Championship matches.
Stats
Preston have won just one of their last 15 meetings with Aston Villa in all competitions (D9 L5). Each of the last three have finished in a draw, most recently a 1-1 at Deepdale in December 2018.
This is Preston’s first FA Cup quarter-final match since 1965/66, eventually losing to Manchester United. They last reached the semi-final of the competition in 1963/64, ultimately losing the final to West Ham United that year.
Aston Villa have won each of their last four FA Cup quarter-final matches, with this their first since a 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion in 2014/15.
Preston have lost 18 of their last 19 FA Cup games against top-flight opponents, with the only exception in this run a 4-1 win at Derby County in the fourth round in 2007/08.
Aston Villa have won just one of their last eight away games in the FA Cup (D2 L5), beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in last season’s third round.
Preston are unbeaten in their last 15 games across all competitions at Deepdale (W6 D9), and haven’t conceded more than one goal in any match during this run (nine conceded overall).
Marco Asensio has been involved in nine goals (6 goals, 3 assists) across his last seven starts in his league’s primary cup competition (Spanish Copa del Rey, Coupe de France and English FA Cup), netting both of Aston Villa’s goals in their 2-0 win over Cardiff in the fifth round.
Previous FA Cup Clashes
Villa have met Preston no less than eight times in the FA Cup in history, with a mix of three wins for both sides, and two draws.
The first-ever encounter between the two teams came in the FA Cup, back in the fifth round in January 1888, but Archie Hunter's goal could not prevent the Villans from defending their maiden FA Cup crown from the previous season, as Preston triumphed 3-1 on their way to the final, which they lost to West Bromwich Albion.
Nine years later, the two sides would meet again, and Villa would get their revenge at the third time of asking. In the quarter-final, a 1-1 draw was followed by a 0-0 stalemate in the first replay, before in the second replay at Brammall Lane, goals from Johnny Campbell and Charlie Athersmith (2) secured a thrilling 3-2 win, as Villa booked their place in the semi-final on the way to lifting the trophy for the third time.
Villa and Preston then met again in consecutive seasons in 1938 and 1939, losing on both occasions. A 2-1 victory in the semi-final booked Preston's spot in the 1938 final, which they won against Huddersfield Town for their second title, before they again knocked Villa out in the fourth round the following campaign with a 2-0 win.
The two most recent FA Cup clashes then came in the 1960s. Three months into the decade, goals from Peter McParland and Gerry Hitchens secured a 2-0 victory for the hosts at Villa Park in the quarter-finals, though Villa would fall to Wolves in the last four. Then, in January 1967, David Roberts' goal secured a 1-0 third-round victory for Villa on the road, though they would be beaten by Liverpool in round four.
The Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides came during Villa's 2018/19 Championship promotion-winning season, and saw spoils shared at Deepdale with a 1-1 draw three days before the turn of the year.
Tammy Abraham crashed a header home from Glenn Whelan's corner on the stroke of half-time, but Lukas Nmecha forced an own goal from Ahmed Elmohamady just after the hour mark to ensure both sides would take a point home.
The season would end in success for Dean Smith's Villans, as they secured promotion back to the top flight with a 2-1 win over Derby County at Wembley in the play-off final.
Team News
Ross Barkley remains Villa's only injury absentee, after the international break allowed Unai Emery's returning players precious time to get further up to speed.
Axel Disasi is the only other member of Emery's squad who will miss out. He is cup tied having already represented parent club Chelsea in this season's competition.
Paul Heckingbottom's squad has been hit ahead of the encounter, most notably as Villa loanee and standout performer from this season, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, is unable to face his parent club.
Ryan Porteous is cup tied for the Lilywhites, Sam Greenwood and Ryan Ledson are both suspended, and first team regulars Brad Potts and Ali McCann join Jack Whatmough on the sidelines injured.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
“Progressively this week, we were adding the players coming back and we worked good. Of course, the first (thing) is try to identify in our mind, our objective, in the next match, firstly on Sunday because it’s very important, and try to recover again our style, idea playing.”
Unai Emery
“I don’t see any sort of a weakened (Villa) team coming to Preston. We are one game away from Wembley... fantastic opportunity for us. They will be seeing it as a couple of games away from their first silverware for a while, and Unai’s first for the club. They will be going all out.”
Paul Heckingbottom
Away Supporters' Guide
Preston North End v Aston Villa
