Wily Wycombe can add to Aston Villa vitriol in FA Cup third round
Published:
Matt Haynes | January 8, 2016
Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa
- FA Cup
- Saturday, January 9th
- Kick-off: 12:45 GMT
- Adams Park, High Wycombe
- Live on BT Sport 2
Villa will have to watch Wycombe threat
Wycombe are 27/10 with Coral to beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round and have lost just once in their last five League Two contests.
The hosts know they won’t have a better chance to beat Premier League basement side Aston Villa and, currently going strong in League Two where they reside in a play-off position, can give themselves morale-boosting momentum with a win over the West Midlands outfit.
Gareth Ainsworth’s side have a number of attacking threats that can cause a significant amount of problems for a rocky rearguard, in this FA Cup third round tie with Villa’s leaky defence conceding three against Sunderland last time out. With Wycombe usually only playing with one recognised striker, Ainsworth will have to decide who he selects.
Aaron Holloway has scored in recent games and is well priced at 8/1 to break the deadlock, while Max Kretzschmar, typically a midfielder, though who can operate in an attacking berth comfortably has also shown he knows where the goal is and at 2/1 in the anytime market is definitely worth considering.
Ainsworth names 46-year-old in squad
Due to the suspension of first choice goalkeeper Matt Ingram, 20-year-old Alex Lynch will start between the sticks and, as such, with no other alternatives available, Ainsworth has been forced to bring in goalkeeping coach Barry Richardson, aged 46 as bench cover.
“We’ve got no one else we can put in there,” said Ainsworth of Richardson who played his last professional game in 2008 for Doncaster Rovers. “That’s Wycombe, you get your chances.”
Cup an unnecessary distraction for Villa?
Unlike some foreign managers who don’t really relate with the FA Cup, Villa boss Remi Garde knows all too well what it means to English football fans.
Garde appeared for Arsenal in their quarter-final against West Ham Unied in the 1997/98 season when the Gunners won it, though was not named in the squad for the final.
However, despite his affinity, from a practical perspective he knows that Premier League survival has more importance.
In two meetings between the two sides in 2003 and 2005, Villa won both comprehensively. In Rudy Gestede, they have a player who knows how to operate against lower league clubs though and the striker is 5/1 to open the scoring.
Meanwhile, Scott Sinclair has the pace to trouble the League Two outfit and his anytime 7/4 price could well be worth exploring.
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