Match Preview: FA Cup Quarter Final: Aston Villa v WBA

Who are we playing?
West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 7th March at 5.30pm

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
Tickets were still available last time we checked but going very fast

Easy to get to?
Oh yes, if you can remember the way...

Can I watch it on telly?
Live on BBC One no less, hence the ludicrously inconvenient kick off time,

Big game?
Massive.

Three points might have taken some of the heat out of the league situation but will have done nothing but ramp up tensions for this one, with not just local bragging rights but a place at Wembley up for grabs.

With both clubs still fighting the spectre of relegation, the one result that nobody wants is a draw and a replay. We expect to see a more open encounter than the league game.

Certainly, some see the distraction of the cup as a bad thing, but who dreamt of finishing 17th as a kid kicking a tennis ball round the playground. The prospect of a trip to Wembley still excites and it would give the whole place a lift if we were to get there.

Do the Tesco boys have any famous fans? 
Well there's Goran Ivanisevic off the tennis and Adrian Chiles who recently moved back to radio, a medium for which he has the perfect face.

We've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Fair question. Shuffle the pack or stick largely with a winning side?  Alan Hutton has a two game ban after his hilarious challenge on Berahino, so they'll have to be changes at the back. It's been hard to predict Timbo's team selections so far so goodness knows who will start. With Wembley just a game away, everyone will be keen for a starting spot though.

Who's playing for them?
We're guessing Pulis will pick a similar line up to Tuesday.

He Said She Said

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

Archie

• West Bromwich Albion have beaten us 53 times while we have 76 wins. There have been 35 draws.

• Our first meeting with Albion in FA Cup in 1885 ended goalless. Sadly Albion did us 3-0 in the replay at their place

• We got revenge two seasons later in 1887,  beating them them 2-0 in the Cup final at Kennington Oval. Goals from Dennis Hodgetts and Archie Hunter clinched it.

• In 1892, the Baggies avenged that defeat, beating us 3-0 in the final of that year, again at Kennington Oval.

• We met them yet again in the final in 1895, this time at Crystal Palace and we won 1-0 thanks to a Bob Chatt goal

• We knocked them out in the third round in 1914, winning 2-1. Joe Bache and Harry Hampton got on the scoresheet.

• In 1924 we beat them at the Hawthorns at the quarter final stage, winning 2-0. Les Capewell and Arthur Dorrell got the goals.

• Albion got their own back the following season, beating us 2-1 at Villa Park in a 3rd round replay.

• 1932 saw us paired in the 3rd round yet again. This time we ran out 2-1 victors at Villa Park thanks to George Brown and the legendary Eric Houghton.

• Billy Myerscough got winner in the 1957 Semi Final replay against the Albion in a match played at St Andrews after the original tie at Molineux had been drawn.

• Derek Mountfield and Tony Daley did the bizzo as we knocked our neighbours out 2-0 at The Hawthorns in the 5th round in 1990.

• Dwight Yorke netted twice and Simon Grayson and Stan Collymore also found the back of the onion bag as we trampled over Albion 4-0 in the 4th round in 1998.

Prediction
Going for a 3-1 Villa win...