Preston vs Aston Villa Prediction: North End To Make Villans Sweat
Can Marco Asensio keep up his goalscoring form? (REUTERS)
Preston vs Aston Villa Betting Tips
Villa to win by one goal - 3/1 Bet365
Asensio to score at any time - 19/10 Unibet
Championship side Preston North End are the last non-Premier League side left in this season's FA Cup and their reward for reaching the last eight is a home tie against Aston Villa on Sunday (1.30pm, BBC 1).
Most of a sold out Deepdale will be desperate to see an upset and betting sites price up a Preston win at 13/2 as two of the Football League's founder members meet in the competition for the first time since 1967.
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This will be the seventh FA Cup meeting between the two sides with three wins apiece for Preston and Villa, although you have to go back to January 1939 for the last time PNE won.
This is a tournament they have history in though, winning it twice in 1889 and 1938 and reaching five more finals, although the last of those was 61 years ago.
For Villa, the FA Cup has been one of many distractions this season. They are still in the Champions League and are pushing for a top-six finish in the Premier League.
However, with the FA Cup draw having really opened up, there's a great opportunity for the Villans to win it for the eighth time, but the first for 68 years.
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Football betting sites have Villa as the second favourites to lift the trophy at 4/1 behind Manchester City, while you can get 150/1 on Preston to be celebrating in May.
Preston vs Aston Villa Betting Preview: Villa to End The Fairytale
It's been a season to forget as far as the league goes for Preston, who currently sit 14th in the table, 10 points off the top six and nine points off the bottom three so a cup run has been a nice distraction.
They go into the game with four wins from their last 11 and two of those came in the FA Cup against League One side Wycombe Wanderers on penalties, following a goalless draw, and a 3-0 win over Lancashire rivals Burnley in the last round.
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They also beat Charlton Athletic to reach this stage, with Milutin Osmajic scoring twice in a 2-1 win. The Montenegrin has scored 13 goals for North End this season, but he is facing an FA charge after being accused of racially abusing Burnley midfielder Hannibal Mejbri.
Villa have overcome two Premier League sides in West Ham and Tottenham, beating both 2-1, before seeing off Cardiff in the last round to reach the last eight for the first time since they went all the way to the final in 2015, only to be beaten 4-0 by Arsenal.
They go into the game with four wins from their last four, including the double over Club Brugge who they beat 6-1 on aggregate to set up a Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris St-Germain.
Preston are unbeaten in their last 15 games across all competitions at Deepdale, winning six and drawing nine, and they haven't conceded more than one goal in any match during this run, conceding nine overall.
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PNE will make it hard for the visitors, but if Villa are on their game, then they will have too much for the EFL side - the fact the game is being played on Sunday also benefits the Premier League side, as they have an extra day to get their international players back in training.
Preston vs Aston Villa prediction 1: Villa to win by one goal - 3/1 Bet365
Preston vs Aston Villa Tips: Asensio to keep up his scoring run
Villa loanee Marco Asensio has been involved in nine goals across his last seven starts in his league's primary cup competitions (Spanish Copa del Rey, Coupe de France and English FA Cup), with six goals and three assists.
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He scored both of Villa's goals in their 2-0 win over Cardiff in the fifth round and has been an excellent addition to the Villa side, scoring seven goals in his last five games.
The 29-year-old had managed just two goals in 16 appearances for PSG this season and you wouldn't bet against him coming back to haunt his former club in the Champions League either.
He's 13/2 to score first on some betting apps and 19/10 to score at any time. You can also get 1/1 on him to score or assist.
Preston vs Aston Villa prediction 2: Asensio to score at any time - 19/10 Unibet
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