Both buoyed by reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town resume Premier League duties with a date at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions edged out Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 to seal knockout progression last weekend, while the Tractor Boys were convincing victors over Coventry City in their most recent affair.
Match preview
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While Aston Villa's top-four charge in the Premier League has ground to a halt, knockout football has provided the Lions with a safe haven, as they followed up progression to the last 16 of the Champions League with a warranted FA Cup success over injury-hit Tottenham.
A masterful Morgan Rogers display saw the former Middlesbrough man set up Jacob Ramsey's first-minute strike before bagging his own, and even though Mathys Tel struck his first Spurs goal deep into added time, Villa earned their fifth-round ticket at the potential expense of Ange Postecoglou's second-season trophy prophecy.
With only Premier League matters to attend to between now and the end of the month, a Villa side who have repeatedly struggled in top-flight action immediately after a European fixture must use last weekend's result as a springboard, especially as they now have three more home games in a row on the menu.
Having gone winless in each of their last three games in the Premier League, most recently falling to a controversial 2-0 loss to West Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, Emery's men have slipped out of the European places into eighth spot in the table, with a six-point gap to make up to the top four.
However, the Lions still have a heavenly home run to fall back on for Saturday's fixture, as they have avoided defeat in each of their last 11 Premier League home matches since August's 2-0 loss to Arsenal, their sole Villa Park reverse in the 2024-25 top-flight season.
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Then again, Ipswich have collected more Premier League points on the road than at their Portman Road base in the current season, and the Tractor Boys embark on their travels once again following a highly fruitful trip to The Coventry Building Society Arena.
Ensuring that last season's FA Cup semi-finalists would not enjoy another magical run to Wembley, Kieran McKenna's troops decimated Frank Lampard's boys 4-1 in the fourth round, capping off a strong afternoon's work with a final goal from ex-Villa man Jaden Philogene.
That emphatic victory was the perfect tonic to a four-match losing run for Ipswich, whose dreadful sequence of Premier League results - the most recent being a 2-1 home defeat to basement boys Southampton - has left them three points adrift of safety in 19th spot.
Not since their Championship days of December 2011 have Ipswich endured a worse losing run in the league, where the first goal going against Ipswich is almost always fatal; McKenna's men have picked up just three points from losing positions in the 2024-25 campaign.
However, one of those was gleaned in September's battle with Villa at Portman Road, where Liam Delap was at the double in a 2-2 stalemate, albeit one which extended Ipswich's winless sequence against the Lions to five since a 2016-17 Championship triumph.
Team News
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Villa's beating of Spurs in the FA Cup did not come without sacrifice, as Ezri Konsa was forced off the field in the first half with a muscular injury, although Emery is crossing his fingers that the defender's concern is not severe.
However, the Lions might be strengthened by no fewer than three returns on Saturday; Tyrone Mings (knee), Ollie Watkins (groin) and Ross Barkley (calf) may all push to be available, but Pau Torres (ankle) and Matty Cash (unspecified) remain absent.
Donyell Malen was an expected starter up front in the FA Cup with Watkins out, but one of two recent debutants - Marcus Rashford or Marco Asensio - could be in line for their first Villa starts here; each of the former's four Premier League goals for Manchester United this season have come against teams in the bottom six.
Villa and Ipswich can empathise when it comes to fresh fitness concerns from FA Cup games; the visitors lost Sammie Szmodics in the 35th minute against Coventry, and there are fears that the attacker has suffered a recurrence of a recent ankle problem.
Szmodics should be one of five guaranteed absentees for the Tractor Boys on Saturday alongside Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles), Wes Burns (knee), Christian Walton (groin) and Conor Chaplin (knee), although the latter could return before the month is up.
Thankfully for McKenna, both Julio Enciso and Omari Hutchinson are fit and raring to replace Szmodics, while new goalkeeper Alex Palmer is set to make his first-ever appearance in the Premier League.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Garcia, Kamara, Bogarde, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans; Asensio, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Tuanzebe, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Cajuste; Philogene, Hutchinson, Clarke; Delap
We say: Aston Villa 3-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich may have a glint in their eyes if they line up against a depleted Villa defence, but the hosts should make up for any shortcomings at the back with ruthlessness in attack.
Also taking into account the Lions' wonderful recent record at their West Midlands home, Emery's men should get back to winning ways in the Premier League with little fuss.
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Ben Knapton
