Preston North End host Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-finals this Sunday (1:30pm kick-off)
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Preston North End have been hard to beat at home this season
Preston North End have been hard to beat at home this season(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
Aston Villa are one win away from returning to Wembley after five years as they face Championship side Preston North End in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend.
Unai Emery will be drilling the message of respect into his players before Sunday, knowing that anything less than a strong performance could put the club’s chances of winning silverware this season in jeopardy.
Of course, Villa are also in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but the FA Cup offers a more realistic route to lifting a trophy this term.
It has been 29 years since Villa last won silverware, while Newcastle United ended their 70-year drought earlier this month by winning the Carabao Cup.
All but one of the ‘big six’ remain in this season’s competition - Manchester City - who have underperformed against expectations over the past six months. They will face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium - where they lost earlier this season in the Premier League - after Villa play Preston.
Meanwhile, Fulham host Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest travel to Brighton.
Playing Preston was the draw that all seven of the other clubs wanted - there’s no denying that. Even fans of the Lilywhites would have understood why.
But that, in no way, shape, or form, means Villa can take them lightly. In fact, the opposite is true. Paul Heckingbottom has already urged his players to be “on the front foot". They won’t need telling twice.
Preston’s home form this season has been very strong, losing just twice in the league all season and only once since the opening weekend, against promotion hopefuls Sheffield United.
They haven’t lost at Deepdale in 15 matches, dating back to the start of November, when an early Bristol City goal appeared to rock them. That result came just after their only other home defeat of the campaign, against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.
Preston have also kept four clean sheets in their last six home matches and haven’t conceded more than once since that loss to Bristol. In fact, across their 25 home matches in all competitions, they have only shipped two or more goals on four occasions.
Another reason Villa cannot afford to underestimate Preston is that they know - and the fans know - what can happen if they don’t show enough respect.
Villa lost 2-1 to Stevenage at home in the FA Cup two seasons ago in one of the biggest cup upsets in recent times. They were also knocked out of the League Cup semi-finals by Bradford City in 2014 across two legs.
Granted, Emery’s squad is far superior, but so are Preston compared to the lower-league opposition who shocked Villa before.
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