Middlesbrough Hoping To Shock Premier League Title Contenders Villa
Middlesbrough vs Aston Villa - 06/01/2024
2026
The first FA Cup round involving sides from the Championship and the Premier League goes down this weekend with a promotion hopeful from the second tier playing hosts to a surprise title contender in the top flight as Aston Villa heads to Middlesbrough.
Boro will be hoping to spring an upset this weekend in the FA Cup with Unai Emery expected to make a handful of changes to the usual set up in the Premier League, as Villa are well within a title race, in the Europa League Conference knockout rounds and will not want to damage their hopes in both competitions.
We will likely see players like Leander Denconcker, Jhon Duran, Pau Torres, Nicolo Zaniolo and Calum Chambers all come into the side after starting on the bench last time out.
There are, however, a few injuries to deal with for Emery, as Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are out for the season, while Robin Olsen and Lucas Digne have been ruled out.
Bertrand Traore is also at the Africa Cup of Nations now and will miss the next few weeks, but Boubacar Kamara can return after his suspension, while Matty Cash and Youri Tielemans will face late fitness tests before the match.
Back in the league, Villa returned to winning ways after losing a 2-0 lead against Manchester United at Old Trafford to eventually lose 3-2, as Emery guided his men to their 13th win in the league with a 3-2 victory against Burnley.
Douglas Luiz stole the headlines with a late penalty that won the game, as Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby scored a goal each.
With 13 wins now on the board, Villa have won the most games in the Premier League and have one more victory on the board than both Arsenal and Manchester City.
In fact, they only trail Liverpool by three points because of their four losses on the board.
However, with 43 goals scored being the same as the league-leading Reds, Villa now only sit behind City in the goalscoring charts.
As for Boro, Middlesbrough head into this game off the back of a 3-1 home loss to Coventry City, putting the club down in 12th and four points behind the playoff spots.
Michael Carrick’s side will also have one eye on the first of two legs against Chelsea in the EFL Cup semi-finals that takes place next Tuesday.
Forebet predicts a win for Villa and over 2.5 goals.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
FA
292249
2
1 - 2
2.73
5°
1.53
5.75
4.33
1.53
no
no
no
0 - 1(0 - 0)
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