Aston Villa descend on Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening, looking to book their place in the 2025 FA Cup final when taking on Crystal Palace.
The Villans will be competing at this stage for the first time in 10 years, and will be looking to secure a first spot at the showpiece final of the historic competition since falling at the final hurdle to Arsenal in 2015.
Unai Emery's side will be buoyed by a positive run of form which has seen them win 10 of their 12 outings in all competitions since they last faced Palace - a 4-1 defeat at Selhurst Park in February.
The seven-time winners beat Premier League sides West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur in the first two rounds of this season's FA Cup, before round five and round six wins over Championship outfits Cardiff City (2-0 at Villa Park) and Preston North End (3-0 away at Deepdale), and are looking to lift the famous trophy for the first time since 1957.
They meet the Eagles for the fourth time in all competitions this season, and are yet to get the better of Oliver Glasner's side this campaign, having lost 2-1 at Villa Park in the Carabao Cup fourth round in October and drawn 2-2 in B6 in the Premier League four games later, before falling to defeat in south London two months ago.
Palace are without a win in their last four outings in all competitions, since a 2-1 victory over Brighton at the beginning of the month. Heavy defeats at Manchester City (5-2) and Newcastle United (5-0) were followed by a goalless draw at home to Bournemouth and a point on the road at Arsenal in a 2-2 draw midweek.
Glasner's men recorded wins over League One, League Two and Championship opposition in the form of Stockport County (1-0), Doncaster Rovers (2-0) and Millwall (3-1) in this season's third, fourth and fifth rounds, before an impressive 3-0 quarter-final triumph over London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Austrian coach will be looking to put Palace's first ever FA Cup in their trophy cabinet, the Eagles having made the final on two occasions in 1990 and 2016, losing to Manchester United both times.
Stats
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has progressed from each of the four single-legged semi-final cup ties he’s managed in, all with Paris Saint-Germain across 2016/17 and 2017/18 in the Coupe de la Ligue (4-1 vs Bordeaux, 3-2 vs Rennes) and Coupe de France (5-0 vs Monaco, 3-1 vs Caen).
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is looking to become the first Austrian manager to reach an FA Cup final and Austria would be the first new nation represented by a manager in the showpiece event since Germany in 2021 (Thomas Tuchel for Chelsea).
In domestic cups this season (FA and League Cup), Marcus Rashford has had a hand in six goals (4 goals, 2 assists) for Man Utd and Aston Villa. Since the start of 2016/17, he has been involved in 40 goals in 60 games these competitions (26 goals, 14 assists), more than any other Premier League player. He is yet to score or assist in an FA Cup semi-final, however, in five attempts.
Crystal Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr has been involved in four goals in two starts against Aston Villa this season (3 goals, 1 assist), and in his five starts against Villa in all competitions in his career, he has either scored (5 goals) or assisted (2 goals) in each start.
This is Crystal Palace’s sixth FA Cup semi-final and they’ve alternated between going out at this stage (1976, 1995, 2022) and reaching the final (1990, 2016) in their previous five semi-finals.
Aston Villa have lost six of their last eight games at Wembley, with this their first since losing 2-1 to Manchester City in the 2020 League Cup final. Their two wins in this run came in 2-1 victories against Liverpool (2015 FA Cup semi-final) and Derby County (2019 Championship play-off final).
Crystal Palace knocked Fulham out 3-0 in this season’s FA Cup quarter-final, having been eliminated in eight of their previous 10 FA Cup ties against Premier League sides. They last knocked out more than one Premier League side in a season in 2015/16, the last time they reached the final (four teams).
Aston Villa have reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time since 2014/15, beating Liverpool 2-1 to reach the final. They’ve reached 11 FA Cup finals, with only seven teams featuring in more.
Aston Villa have won none of their last four matches against Crystal Palace in all competitions (D1 L3), conceding 13 goals. Palace knocked them out of the League Cup earlier this season, with Spurs the only side to eliminate them from both the FA and League Cups in the same campaign in 1968/69.
Crystal Palace have faced Aston Villa three times in the FA Cup and have been eliminated each time, losing 5-0 in the third round in 1912/13, 4-3 in the third round in 1961/62 and 3-1 in a fifth round replay in 2009/10.
Previous FA Cup Clashes
Villa and Palace have met four times in this competition over the years, with the first two meetings between the two sides in history both coming in the competition.
The Villans first locked horns with the Eagles back in February 1913. A third round clash at Villa Park saw goals from Joe Bache, Harold Halse (2) and Clem Stephenson (2) seal a thumping 5-0 win for the hosts, who would go on to lift the trophy for the fifth time later that season.
The two sides would have to wait another 49 years before facing one another again, though the clash would again be in the FA Cup - at the third round stage in 1962. Goals from Harry Burrows (2), Derek Dougan and Peter McParland tied up a thrilling 4-3 victory for the hosts in B6, who made it to the quarter-finals where they lost to Tottenham Hotspur.
Villa and Palace did not meet again in the FA Cup until February 2010, when Martin O'Neill's side travelled to Selhurst Park in round five, taking the tie to a replay when Stilian Petrov struck three minutes from time to steal a 2-2 draw, after Darren Ambrose and Johnny Ertl had struck for Palace either side of James Collins' first half goal.
Villa successfully navigated the replay on home soil 10 days later to advance to the quarter-finals. Gabby Agbonlahor opened the scoring in the first half but Ambrose's penalty restored parity 17 minutes from time.
But a pair of late spot kicks from John Carew took the tie away from the south Londoners, helping the Norwegian striker finish that season as the FA Cup's leading goalscorer, as Villa were eventually eliminated at the semi-final stage by Chelsea at Wembley.
The Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides was one to forget for Villa, as they fell 4-1 at Selhurst Park in Premier League action two months ago.
Ismaïla Sarr struck just before the half-hour mark to put Palace ahead, but Villa hit back seven minutes after the half-time break through Morgan Rogers' neat touch, dart into the box and finish.
However the hosts found another gear in the second period as the game reached its closing stages, and wrapped up a comprehensive victory as Jean-Philippe Mateta put his side back in front just six minutes later.
Sarr added a second 19 minutes from time, before Eddie Nketiah notched in stoppage time to seal the win for the London side.
Team News
Villa are once again expected to have a clean bill of health on the injury front, having had each of their players fit and available for their last two outings.
Their only certain absentee will be Axel Disasi, who is cup tied having already represented Chelsea in this season's FA Cup.
Oliver Glasner has been boosted by the news Ben Chilwell has recovered from illness and will be available for selection, while Chris Richards returns from suspension at Wembley.
Palace have no fresh injury concerns from their midweek draw at Arsenal, meaning only Cheick Doucouré and Chadi Riad (both knee) remain out as long-term absentees.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
“It’s a good opportunity for us to be in this semi-final and to enjoy this moment with our supporters, to travel to London with them and to play a match. My expectation is that it will be a very difficult match because they’re motivated and in a good moment.”
Unai Emery
“Playing in the semi-final is always great. We've done well in the cup competitions until now, but now it's just about the semi-final. Of course, it's a huge game at Wembley, and we're looking forward to it.”
Oliver Glasner
