For what it’s worth I think Emery is wrong: the two best teams in the country (according to the league table) are already out of the Cup, Chelsea likewise, and the teams in sixth and eighth are playing each other on Sunday.
“Pau [Torres] not, Tyrone Mings doubt, Emiliano Martinez doubt, Barkley not, Onana doubt, Kamara doubt, they are close to a come back but we will see.
But wait until you hear what Omer Riza had to say about his Cardiff side, enjoying a brief breather from the battle for Championship survival (they’re 19th, six points and quite a lot of goal difference above the bottom three):.
“We are not a contender in the FA Cup to win the title,” said Villa boss Unai Emery ahead of this game.
“I’d like to put my strongest team out so you can have a real go at it - and if we were 12th in the league I’d have no issues with that,” Riza said.
