Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton make Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa predictions as 'good record' claim made

Crystal Palace take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. The Eagles are in search of their first-ever major trophy, just two wins away from achieving that feat.

Oliver Glasner managed to rest a coupe of his players during the week, and still picking up a point against Arsenal, but this game was always the priority as the London side look to cap what has been a very solid season with silverware. Here we round up the predictions for the game from Betfair’s Alan Shearer and BBC Sport’s Chris Sutton.

Alan Shearer

“I’m really looking forward to being at this game. I think it’s a fascinating game – Villa have obviously had a poor result against Man City, but they are an excellent side and have got so many options now, in terms of the squad.

“He [Emery] can chop and change in forward positions – he left Ollie Watkins out at the Etihad after he ripped Newcastle apart at the weekend. So for him to be left out – he said it after the game, that he was fuming not to play against PSG – I guess it will have been exactly the same in midweek. I fancy Villa, I think they’ll beat Palace, but I think that it could be a great semi-final in terms of goals.

“Palace in forward positions with [Eberechi] Eze, [Jean-Philippe] Mateta and [Ismaila] Sarr – it’ll be a really interesting, exciting game with lots of goals, but Villa will come out on top.”

Chris Sutton

“It's interesting how Palace have got a good record against Villa this season. They knocked then out of the Carabao Cup at Villa Park in October, led twice when they drew there in the league in November and then beat them 4-1 at Selhurst Park in February.

“That will give the Eagles some confidence and, if they play like they did against Arsenal on Wednesday, they have got a great chance of getting through. They rested Jean-Philippe Mateta at the Emirates Stadium but created loads of chances and should have won. It was a very different Palace performance to the one I watched when I was at St James' Park last week, when they were torn apart by Newcastle, so it's hard to know what to expect here.

“The fact Villa have struggled against them this season shows what Palace are capable of, given how good Unai Emery's side have been. As well as the FA Cup, Villa are still in the race for the top five and did so well to reach the Champions League quarter-finals too. Emery deserves a bit of silverware to reflect the excellent job he has done but we know football doesn't work like that.

“Villa were unlucky to lose to Manchester City on Tuesday but the question is whether they have got another big performance in them, like the ones they have produced in Europe. My head tells me that if Villa turn up then Palace won't beat them again, but I still think this will be extremely close and it will go to extra-time before Villa's bench wins it for them. Prediction: 2-3 after extra-time.”