Aston Villa vs Cardiff City Prediction, Lineups and Stats: Tonight's best bets at Villa Park

Aston Villa and Cardiff City kick-off the FA Cup fifth round shortly at Villa Park, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm.

Aston Villa, who are one of the favourites to win the coveted cup, will see the FA Cup as their best chance of winning their first trophy under Unai Emery's management and their first trophy as a club since 1996.

They have a favourable draw in this round, facing a Cardiff City team struggling to form in the Championship.

Read on for our best bets and the starting lineups.

My first prediction for this game is for Marcus Rashford to find the net at 23/20 with Betway.

Rashford has mainly dealt with minutes off the bench during his time at Villa, but I expect him to start this match. Although this is a game that Unai Emery and the rest of Aston Villa will be taking seriously, the favourable draw gives them the opportunity to allow players like Marcus Rashford start while still being the heavy favourites.

Rashford had a pretty ugly end to his time at Manchester United, and the English winger will be desperate to prove those who doubted him at Old Trafford wrong, particularly manager Ruben Amorim, who publicly called him out on many occasions, even going as far to say he would rather play his goalkeeping coach than someone who doesn't give his all to the team.

When at his best, Rashford is close to unstoppable and only two years ago, he was one of the most in-form players in the world. Friday night's game against Cardiff is the perfect opportunity for Rashford to show what he is capable of and regain some confidence, and I am backing him to score his first goal in an Aston Villa shirt in this game.

For my second prediction I am backing Aston Villa to win and both teams to score.

Aston Villa should realistically win this game with ease; although their Premier League performances and results have not been to the same standard as they were last season when they finished in 4th place, they are still a far better side than Cardiff City. They sit in 10th place in the Premier League compared to Cardiff City, who are in 19th place and fighting relegation in the Championship. Cardiff have one win in their last four games, and with Villa at home for this game, it should be a pretty routine performance for them.

However, I believe that Cardiff will find the net at least once in this tie. Aston Villa's defence has been far from perfect lately, conceding at least one goal in each of their last ten games. Cardiff have also scored at least one goal in 14 of their last 15 games, proving that they know how to find the net. Cardiff's main goal threat, Callum Robinson, is the third top goalscorer in the Championship this season, with 12 goals to his name.

Pairing Cardiff to win with both teams to score returns generous odds of 9/5.

Where To Watch Aston Villa vs Cardiff City

Aston Villa's clash with Cardiff City will be broadcast live at 8pm tonight on ITV1, with coverage starting at 7.30pm.

You can also watch the game on streaming service ITVX.

Aston Villa vs Cardiff City Lineups

The starting lineups for Aston Villa vs Cardiff City are now available to view in the graphic below.

Aston Villa vs Cardiff City Statistics