The games are coming thick and fast as Villa look to continue a fine run of winning form.
Stoke City are the visitors to Villa Park in this tie, where the victors will be rewarded with a place in the quarter finals.
Former Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill will be pleased with Stoke’s progress in the competition, defeating Gillingham (1-0) in the last round. They also saw off Wolves by the same margin prior to that.
In the league it has been a mixed bag for The Potters, they’ve a win, draw and defeat from their opening three Championship fixtures. They currently sit in 15th position in the table.
For Villa the Carabao Cup was the test bed ahead of our delayed start to the 2020/21 season.
A win at Burton Albion (1-3) was in the end a formality, but it was a reminder that the fringe players at Dean Smith’s disposal weren’t up to much.
Significant strengthening has of course taken place since, coinciding with wins in our opening two Premier League fixtures (Sheffield Utd & Fulham) and a comfortable third round victory over Bristol City (0-3).
KEY FACTS
- New Villa signing Ross Barkley won’t feature – he’s cup-tied.
- Tom Heaton, Bjorn Engels and Wesley are out injured.
- Villa haven’t beaten Stoke at home in 7 attempts.
- None of Stoke’s 5 matches in all comps have produced more than 2 goals.
- By contrast, Villa have scored 26 goals in the EFL Cup Since 2019 onwards.
- Venue: Villa Park – No spectators
- Kick Off Time: 19:00 [GMT] / 7pm
TEAM NEWS
KEEPER
Jed Steer
DEFENCE
Guilbert, Elmohamady (C), Hause, Taylor.
MIDFIELD
Lansbury, Nakamba, Ramsay, Traore, El Ghazi
ATTACK
Davis
ON THE BENCH
Kalinic, Cash, Konsa, Luiz, Hourihane, Jota, Watkins.
NEWSLETTER
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