Venue: Villa Park Date: Tuesday, 22nd January K/o: 19:45
Team News
Aston Villa will welcome back forward Andreas Weimann from a lay-off with illness for tonight's Capital One Cup semi-final second-leg with Bradford. Defender Nathan Baker (hamstring) and midfielder Ashley Westwood (cup-tied) are out, whilst goalkeeper Shay Given and midfielder Fabian Delph will be handed late fitness tests - the duo are suffering from hamstring and ankle complaints, respectively. Centre-back Michael Nelson could make his debut for League Two outfit Bradford tonight after signing from Kilmarnock. Striker James Hanson could return from a two-game absence after breaking his toe.
Match Preview
60 places beneath Premier League side Aston Villa, Bradford sprung the most unlikely of cup upsets on Paul Lambert's men at Valley Parade on January 8th to win the first-leg 3-1. This tie might even have been over as a contest by now had Andreas Weimann not got on the score sheet for the desperately poor visitors with less than ten minutes remaining. Despite the set-back,
Lambert has stated that his side are favourites to progress tonight but Villa will have to be on top form to overturn this deficit. This is the 40th meeting of these two clubs, and the first at Villa Park since September 2000 when the home side won 2-0 in the Premier League. A repeat of that scoreline would set us up for the thrilling climax of extra-time and possibly a penalty shoot-out. Such drama! The only previous League Cup meeting between these clubs at Villa Park ended 7-1 to the home side, however, so maybe not then.
Likely Line-Ups
Aston Villa Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Lichaj, Vlaar, Holman, Bannan, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Benteke, Weimann
Bradford Duke, Darby, McHuge, Nelson, Good, Atkinson, Jones, Doyle, Hanson, Hines, Wells Source:
BBC