Our prediction for this FA Cup match:
David faces Goliath at Villa Park as Aston Villa and Stevenage go head to head in the FA Cup round 3 on Sunday afternoon. The Villans came from behind to share the spoils with Wolverhampton in midweek, and they are seen as hot favourites to beat the League Two side in front of home fans. All Coutinho, Danny Ings, and Leander Dendoncker should be recalled to the starting XI, while Jacob Ramsey and Diego Carlos remain on the sidelines with injuries.
The Boro, on the other hand, aim to build on back-to-back wins over Crawley Town and Gillingham City, but seeing that Unai Emery’s troops have turned their Villa Park into a real fortress, we predict that the visitors are going to return home empty-handed. There are no fresh injury concerns in the away team ahead of the FA Cup game.
Highlighted Player (Philippe Coutinho):
Philippe Coutinho is a Brazilian football player born on 12th of June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Coutinho started his football career for Vasco da Gama where he played in the youth as well. By the age of 16 Internazionale signed Coutinho but let him play in Brazil until he was 18 years old.
After 2 difficult seasons Internazionale let Coutinho go for a loan period to Espanyol and after 1 season he got transferred to Liverpool for approximately 8 million euro. Coutinho played in several youth teams of Brazil but made his debut for the first team in October 2010.
With a height of only 171cm Coutinho is physically weak. He compensates his physical ability by being very creative, having a great vision and passing. The preferred position of Coutinho is attacking midfielder where he gets easily into the right position to give an assist.
Coutinho won the Italian Suppercoppa, the worldcup for club teams and the World Cup of nations U20. Coutinho was part of the Liverpool team that was able to become second in the Premier League.
Highlighted Team (Stevenage):
Based in Hertfordshire, England, Stevenage Borough are a professional club that compete in the League Two. The Boro are well known for their red and white home hit, while dark blue is the dominant colour of their away kit. Stevenage play their home games at Broadhall Way, the stadium which can hold up to 6,722 spectators and they were founded in 1976.
The Boro have won FA Trophy on two occasions (2006/07, 2008/09), with the team clinching the Herts Senior Cup title in the 2008/09 season thanks to a 2-1 win over Cheshunt. Luton are considered one of the club’s biggest rivals and there have always been fireworks in matches between the two sides.
In 2015 fighting broke out between rival fans near to the end of the clash at the Lamex. It has to be noted that Stevenage Borough were founded in 1976 after the bankruptcy of Stevenage Athletic.