The FA Cup semifinals are on the menu this weekend. Two games, four teams, one desire—to win the trophy of the eldest competition in the world. The first game this Saturday is between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, while the second is between the two former European champions, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. That one is played on Sunday.

We will create a preview for both events. The odds for these games and many more are available at this link.

Crystal Palace VS Aston Villa Preview

Palace has slowed down lately because they haven’t won in the past four games. This isn’t odd because the Eagles simply didn’t have anything to play for in the Premiership, not being able to go up or down in the standings. They were preparing for this event, shifting their focus from the league matches.

They’ve met with Arsenal this Wednesday night, playing 2-2 at the Emirates. Jean Mateta scored the equalizer in the 83rd minute, while Eze netted the first goal.

During February and March, Palace had a very good stretch of results, winning 9 of 11 games and suffering just one loss. In most of their victories, the team from Selhurst managed to keep its net intact.

Aston Villa had a harsh schedule, but they played well. The last-minute loss to City 2-1 this Monday night was only the third in the previous 15 matches. Meanwhile, Unai Emery’s guys won the other 12 events, making a strong surge to the upper part of the standings.

All but one of their victories have been based on at least two goals scored. Their offense is fantastic these days, while their defense knows how to keep its net intact—although that didn’t happen in five of the previous six contests.

Because of the importance of this event, our pick here would be moderate efficiency, 2 or 3 goals. There is only one game. Palace will be defensive-minded, and Emery won’t be keen to open and attack, yet patiently wait.

Nottingham Forest VS Manchester City

Forest is torn apart between the EPL and this competition. They are currently battling to qualify for the Champions League next year and also have a chance to win the trophy. But fatigue is slowly taking its toll, and we saw that when they lost to Villa and Everton. They did bounce back against Tottenham, winning the road game 1-2, though they didn’t deserve this triumph.

Six of Forest’s last 10 matches saw under 2.5 goals, and that’s been the case for the entire year. Forest plays tough defense, waiting for counter-attacks and set pieces. Chris Wood was their target man, though, as the season nears its end, the Kiwi’s form is slowly declining.

Manchester City’s morale skyrocketed following a win over Aston Villa this Tuesday. Mateus Nunes’s stoppage time goal brought a 2-1 win, which kept the Citizens in the zone and led to the Champions League next season.

City has not lost for the last seven games, and they have three wins in a row, five in the previous six appearances. This unit caught its old form and is playing good football now. In all five triumphs, they’ve scored at least twice, and may we add that Haaland isn’t playing due to an injury.

With all due respect for Forest, Manchester City will win this event. They have more experience in games like these, and overall, their current form is much better than Nottingham’s. Forest was mediocre in the last few weeks, so we pick City to triumph in this event. The odds may not be as high as many want, but the risk is pretty low.

 

 

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