Villa and Leicester hoping to turn league fortunes around in FA Cup

Both of these teams might be in the Premier League’s bottom three, but form will go out of the window when they meet in the FA Cup. Leicester might be 15/8 outsiders to progress in 90 minutes with Coral, though they will take that tag, having already knocked out Newcastle and Tottenham in previous rounds.

Coincidentally, the last time the Foxes won in the Premier League, was mid-January when they beat Aston Villa at home, though it will be a trickier test at Villa Park, in front of what is bound to be a full-to-capacity crowd. Playing a team when they have just sacked their boss can also be a challenging task, and having dismissed Paul Lambert recently, the Villans may benefit from a fresh approach, led by caretaker boss Scott Marshall.

With Tim Sherwood said to be in advanced talk, whoever does come in will know that they need to get the team scoring again. They have managed just 12 goals from 25 games; the lowest in Premier League history. Their only hope is striker Christian Benteke, who has just returned from a long injury lay-off, though netted in the third round cup win against Blackpool. He is 5/1 to strike first here.

New January signing Carlos Gil has also struck in the FA Cup this season, getting on the scoresheet in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth. He is 11/4 to net anytime and carry his form through to the fifth round, while fellow new recruit Scott Sinclair is also 11/4 in the same market.

It was a plucky performance last time out in the league for Leicester, who lost 2-1 away to Arsenal, and they will be hoping to take that into their tie with Villa. New boy Andrej Kramaric got on the scoresheet, and Leicester fans have a reason to be hopeful that he can steer them to safety. The Croatian is a very decent 2/1 to score anytime against the West Midlands outfit who are leaking goals right now.

The visitors’ highest scorer this season on nine goals in all competitions is summer signing Leonardo Ulloa, and having already dispatched twice in the competition, is 15/8 to strike anytime. Although they are outsiders, it could well be the Foxes who progress here. They may not have the quality to stay in the Premier League, however unlike Villa at the minute, they keep on fighting until the end. It is this trait that could spur them on in a successful cup run.