Fixtures
- Wycombe Wanderers Vs. Aston Villa – Tue, Sep 24th 2024, 20:00
Aston Villa’s Carabao Cup campaign begins against Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park on Tuesday night.
A trip to Buckinghamshire comes hot on the heels of a big win in the Premier League on Saturday, with Unai Emery’s team overcoming Wolves 3-1.
Victory against a local rival extended a strong start to the season which has seen Villa win five of six matches across all competitions.
Wycombe earned their place in round three by knocking out Championship side Swansea City courtesy of a 1-0 success in Wales.
The Chairboys had already beaten Northampton Town in the first round, with their league cup run complementing their League One schedule.
Matt Bloomfield’s team sit ninth in the table after putting together a four-game unbeaten run that includes three wins.
Head-to-head
The two clubs have faced off a total of four times, with each meeting coming in a cup competition.
Three of the four contests have been played in Wycombe, including the first game between the sides in September 2003.
On that occasion, Villa ran out 5-0 winners in the League Cup thanks to Juan Pablo Angel hat-trick and strikes from Peter Whittingham and Darius Vassell.
A rematch took place two years later when the clubs were again pitted against each other in the League Cup, with 11 goals scored in a crazy clash.
Wycombe looked set to pull off an upset when they led 3-1 at half-time, but Villa roared back and scored seven unanswered goals in the second half to progress.
The FA Cup brought the two teams together again in 2016 for a third round tie.
A 1-1 draw at Adams Park earned the lower league Chairboys a replay, which went Villa’s way in Birmingham
The Last Meeting
Villa edged past Wanderers in an FA Cup third-round replay back in January 2016.
After a 1-1 draw in Wycombe, Ciaran Clark broke the deadlock in B6 with the opener after 75 minutes.
Progress was assured in stoppage time when Idrissa Gueye scored his first goal for the club.
Managers’ Pre-Match Thoughts
“We have to try to play, finding something in those important competitions – Carabao Cup and FA Cup. We are going to compete. I’m going to change some players but I am going to do a plan to prepare and win and get a good way in this competition. We can progress and have the opportunity to fight for a trophy.” – Unai Emery
“We are up against a very high-calibre opposition, and we respect that, but we will prepare, dream, and have belief in ourselves that can get a result. No one outside of our changing room will believe that we can win the game so we will use that as motivation. It’s understandable due to the disparity between the two clubs as one is playing Champions League football, and the other is competing in a very tough League One. Of course, there is a gulf between the two teams. But if we can be at our best and Villa aren’t, then who knows what could happen.” – Matt Bloomfield
