Aston Villa host Newcastle United in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with both teams looking to make a cup run after being knocked out of the Carabao Cup this season.
Unai Emery’s team comes into this match in good spirits after a 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion that brought them closer to Premier League leaders Arsenal. Eddie Howe’s men also recorded a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in midweek, which saw them sack Thomas Frank.
Newcastle have won three of their last six games against Villa, who have also won twice, but what this match guarantees are goals, with 20 goals scored in the last six games.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match:
how to look
The match will be broadcast on Saturday on BBC 1 and TNT Sports 3 in the UK, ESPN in the US, SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow live updates from ESPN.
Key details
Start time: Saturday, February 14 at 5:45 pm GMT (12:45 pm ET; 11:15 pm IST and 4:45 am AEDT, Sunday)
Event: Villa Park, Birmingham
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh
VAR: N/A
team news
Aston Villa: Bizot, Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Digne, Luiz, Onana, Rogers, Barkley, Bailey, Abraham.
Substitutes: Martínez, Konsa, Mings, Watkins, García, Buendía, Sancho, Maatsen, Kone
Newcastle United: Ramsdale, Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Ramsey, Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes, Osula.
Substitutes: Pope, Ruddy, Gordon, Elanga, Willock, A.Murphy, Shahar, Seung-soo, Neave.
Talking points
Will Newcastle miss Guimarães again?
Newcastle ended a run of three consecutive defeats and five games without a win when they beat Tottenham in midweek. A big part of their resurgence was the presence of Bruno Guimarães on the pitch, as it was when they made a brief comeback in the match against Brentford.
However, any happiness Howe took from the victory was tempered when Guimarães limped off with an apparent thigh or hamstring problem in stoppage time against Spurs.
It’s a scenario further exacerbated by Lewis Miley’s injury, with Howe’s options in midfield now limited. Guimarães’ ability to move Newcastle up the pitch while also providing physical dominance in midfield will be sorely missed against Villa, and Howe will be hoping for a miracle regarding his availability, because without him, an FA Cup exit looms.
How much should Villa prioritize the FA Cup?
With Unai Emery’s side closing in on Arsenal in the title race, Villa might be tempted not to focus too much on the FA Cup, especially with a UEFA Europa League knockout match coming up. However, the truth is that both Manchester City and Arsenal are unlikely to stumble, and Villa’s European ambitions could suffer amid the fixture congestion.
Going deeper into the FA Cup would only exacerbate that fixture congestion, and Villa fans might wonder which competition Emery might prioritise. He must prioritize as the club is already dealing with a minor injury crisis in midfield and a lack of rotation could make the situation worse.
However, Emery’s team only need to look at Newcastle to know how much a cup victory can galvanize a club. Villa’s last real trophy came in the 1996 League Cup, and they can’t help but give their best in the FA Cup.
Can Howe repeat last year’s cup heroics with failed forwards?
Howe wrote his name into Newcastle folklore after ending a 56-year wait for a major trophy by winning last season’s Carabao Cup. The club has become a cup specialist of late, and a semi-final in this year’s League Cup is quite impressive. Newcastle are not serious UEFA Champions League contenders, despite their impressive performances in the competition, and currently sit 10th in the Premier League.
The FA Cup represents the club’s best route to silverware and European qualification, and although they have missed Alexander Isak’s decisive finish this season, they still possess the skills to make it uncomfortable for regular winners. Newcastle had not lifted the FA Cup since the 1954-55 season, and with Howe’s ability to thrive in one-off matches, Newcastle should focus on this competition.
He will need his forwards, such as Yoane Wissa, Anthony Gordon and Nick Woltemade, to start firing early if Newcastle are to start winning, with the trio having only scored one goal between them in the club’s last six games.
Villa has a squad from their previous victory
Unai Emery has mastered the art of baffling analysts around the world with his low-xG, high-success brand of football, and that was the case against Newcastle in their previous fixture at St. James’ Park in late January. Villa claimed a 2-0 victory thanks to a losing xG result of 1.16 to Newcastle’s 2.18.
It’s not even a surprise at this point: Villa’s team has the ability to score loads of wonderful goals and the xG regression to the mean has not materialized. The possible absence of Guimarães and Miley further strengthens Villa’s position, as Emery could fill out their midfield and look to attack on the counterattack, as he did in the 2-0 win.
Newcastle’s directness up front could also give Villa more room to manoeuvre, as they can cover the visitors’ late runs from midfield, which has been Howe’s preferred strategy of late.
Will rotation play a role?
One look at Newcastle’s fixture list and it’s clear Howe will have to rotate: the club have meandered through a run of seven away games from eight, with three left to play. However, this trip to Villa Park is followed by the longest UEFA Champions League trip – to Baku, Azerbaijan, where they will face Qarabag FK.
The dilemma for Howe is when to rotate: if he rotates too hard against Villa, he risks being knocked out of the cup, while playing against a weakened team in Baku could risk a two-legged draw and progression in the Champions League. Howe could perhaps bite the bullet and play with his reserves on the trip to the Etihad after the Qarabag game, but that risks falling further down the league and amplifying the voices calling for his sacking.
While his options in midfield may be limited, Howe called up the likes of Sandro Tonali, Jacob Murphy, Woltemade, Lewis Hall and William Osula to the bench against Spurs, meaning he can name a strong squad.
Emery could also call up Tammy Abraham, Alysson, Leon Bailey, Pau Torres and Victor Lindelöf, which should mean it will be a very close contest.
