Aston Villa

David Michael
Fan writer

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Unai Emery played the equivalent of a wildcard in fantasy football during the January transfer window.

Five additions and even more outgoings were made to shake up and re-energise a Villa team that still had much to play for but increasingly seemed unlikely to meet their expectations in the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.

Villa supporters have learned over the years - from Didier Six to Philippe Coutinho - how the short-term hype of big-name stars can quickly fizzle out.

However, the key difference here is that key additions Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford only need to shine for four months to provide Villa with a good chance of success.

Villa already play in a way that suits both players and, despite the short timeframe, there is also an opportunity for them to etch their names into Villa folklore, with the club now in the last 16 of both the Champions League and FA Cup.

Emery's focus on the latter will only sharpen with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea already eliminated, making Villa the fourth favourites to lift the trophy.

The biggest question mark in this wildcard transformation was whether Villa could instantly replace the X-factor lost with Jhon Duran's untimely departure. The 21-year-old had ultimately carried Villa into the Champions League last 16 with his outrageous goals and provided fans with at least some hope that they could make an indent on the knockout rounds.

However, after witnessing Asensio and Rashford's impact in their first 30 minutes with the club against Tottenham in the FA Cup, it became clear that Villa had replaced Duran's youthful exuberance with two top-level operators capable of unlocking another level to this Villa team.

Emery had struggled to execute this evolution in the first half of the season, but now this transfer window reshuffle could generate bigger headlines than the tedious daily Rashford and Manchester United soap opera that has threatened to overshadow what it could mean for Villa.

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The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties involving Premier League teams in the order they were drawn.

Games will be played over the first weekend of March.

• Aston Villa v Cardiff City

• Crystal Palace/Doncaster v Millwall

• Man Utd v Fulham

• Newcastle v Brighton

• Bournemouth v Wolves

• Man City v Plymouth

• Exeter/Nottingham Forest v Ipswich

See the full draw

Is there something you want to ask about a Premier League club?

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Aston Villa have signed Yasin Ozcan from Super Lig side Kasimpasa on a pre-contract agreement.

The 18-year-old will spend the rest of this season with the Turkish club before joining Unai Emery's side in the summer.

Ozcan, who is a left-footed defender, has already been capped by Turkey Under-21s.

We asked for your views on Aston Villa's FA Cup victory against Tottenham.

Here are some of your comments:

Aston Villa fans

Gary: At times, Villa's play going forward was absolutely fantastic. Rashford looked so hungry when he came on, and Asensio showed true class. The starting 11 all played so well. Just wish we could get through a game without an injury or letting one in. Scoreline flattered Spurs.

Mike: A lot was made of Tottenham's injuries both prior to, and post this game, yet Villa only had one recognised centre-back (Konsa) who eventually got injured himself. We absolutely dismantled Tottenham and with a more clinical display with chances taken we would have stuffed them, but I'll take the win regardless. UTV

Ian: Outstanding performance from the Villa but should have killed the game off much sooner and should have scored two or three more goals with the chances we created. Some very good individual performance's but overall an excellent team performance. The only downside was Konsa's injury. Rashford and Asensio looked sharp when they came on. If we can get our injured players fit there are exciting times ahead. Keep the faith. UTV.

Tottenham fans

Steve: If I didn't know better, I would suggest the players have no faith In Ange any more and believe the way to get him out is to play poorly. That was an awful display from a team that doesn't care. Levy needs to apologise to the fans.

Keef: We were awful again and the whole team lacks confidence and belief. Played well in patches in the second half and not sure why we couldn't start the game with the same energy and determination. On another day Son scores the first against Martinez and shoots for the second rather than passing, so he's also lacking confidence too. Not sure where we go from here.

Dan: First half was like Thursday 2.0. Glad that the second half was a different edge. Nice to see Tel get off the mark. And equally great that Kinsky more than made up for his early blunder. Just need to get that morale and confidence back up to a decent level throughout the team and maybe, just maybe, we can make a positive challenge in the Europa League. Will take 16th and at least a final in the Europa.

Aston Villa and Manchester United were both ready to offer 70m euros (£58.3m) for Barcelona's Fermin Lopez in January, but the 21-year-old forward was not interested in a move. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Unai Emery spoke to BBC One after Aston Villa's victory against Tottenham: "I am very happy. It was a fantastic match against a very good team and we played really well.

"After a long time, we are in the fifth round of the FA Cup. I know how much this competition means for our supporters and us, and I am happy for the fans.

"We are playing more or less as we planned. We dominated and played with confidence and personality - everything we did today was more or less very good."

On Jacob Ramsey: "He played really well. We are happy when the player is scoring. He had more chances. Of course, we need his best performances from Ramsey. He is getting better and being consistent without injuries.

"We will need players who are physically good for the rest of the season. There are players coming back in the coming weeks. We also have players like Donyell Malen, Andres Garcia, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford and hopefully, we can build the team in the structure we want to create."

Tell us your thoughts on the match here

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

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It is extremely hard to believe that Aston Villa have not been in the hat for the fifth round draw of the FA Cup since 2015.

But now they are there, they are looking like serious contenders to make it to Wembley with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea all out and Manchester City no longer at their sparkling best.

Unai Emery's side are through to the last 16 of the Champions League, have a chance of securing a spot in Europe once again via the Premier League and are full of confidence.

Villa started their match against Tottenham full of intensity and intent as they took the lead in just 57 seconds through Jacob Ramsey - with the help of some poor goalkeeping from Antonin Kinsky.

The hosts missed a number chances to add a second and they finally managed that in the second half when Rogers got his name on the scoresheet for the 11th time this term.

Marcus Rashford's introduction for the first time in Villa colours sparked Villa Park further into life as he hustled and harried the Spurs defence.

Villa will certainly be a team to avoid once the draw for the fifth round is made on Monday evening.

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Morgan Rogers spoke to BBC One after Sunday' victory against Tottenham: "The second goal was important, we played well but we hadn't killed the game off.

"We probably could have scored a few more but overall we are happy with the performance and the win.

"I'm trying to improve, trying to get better, but the team are trying to create something and we'll see where it takes us."

On the January arrivals of players like Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio: "It pushes us along, we want to take what we can from the experience players in the squad.

"It's massive to have people like that in the building and hopefully we can just push each other."

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Morgan Rogers has scored eight goals in his last eight appearances at Villa Park. Indeed, since the start of December, this is the most goals scored by a Premier League player at a specific venue across all competitions (one more than Cody Gakpo at Anfield).

Tell us your thoughts on the game here

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Four Premier League teams are competing in Saturday's FA Cup action, and we will bring you every moment.

• Blackburn Rovers v Wolves (12:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Plymouth Argyle v Liverpool

• Aston Villa v Tottenham (17:35) - watch on BBC One and listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

The Carabao Cup semi-final defeat means the pressure going into this tie is heightened for Tottenham.

The way Spurs beat Brentford was more 'Ange-wall' than 'Ange-ball' but it worked, and they might need more of the same to get through here.

It will help Aston Villa that they don't have a midweek game before this tie and, as well as the result against Liverpool, one of the things that will affect Tottenham is fatigue and how many players they have got fit.

When these two teams met in November, Spurs won 4-1, but it was a strange game and it could actually have gone either way. The same applies here.

Like Tottenham, Villa also have a problem keeping clean sheets - they have managed only one in their past 13 games - so I think there will be goals in this tie.

It will be interesting to see if Villa's new loan signing, Marcus Rashford, gets one of them.

Bringing Rashford in is a gamble, but I know myself from my career how a change of scenery can reinvigorate a player.

This is essentially a trial for him - if he does well, they will sign him. If not, he will be going back to Manchester United.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2 after extra time, Villa to win 12-11 on penalties

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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The fifth-round draw will take place during Monday's episode of The One Show on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Former England winger Theo Walcott, who won the trophy twice while with Arsenal, will conduct the draw at about 19:10 GMT.

There are 16 Premier League teams left in the draw, with Leicester having been beaten by Manchester United on Friday, and Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham exiting in the third round.

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Following Liverpool's progression to the Carabao Cup final, their fixture with Aston Villa has been rearranged for Wednesday, 19 February.

The fixture, which finished 3-3 last season, will kick off at 19:30 GMT.

Earlier this season, when the two sides met, Liverpool beat Villa 2-0 at Anfield.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Sunday's FA Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur (kick-off 17:35 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery confirmed that Ollie Watkins, Pau Torres, Ross Barkley, Matty Cash and Tyrone Mings would all miss out through injury on Sunday.

• On how long Watkins will be out, he said: "Each day, it is important how he is feeling - but for Sunday he is not going to be available. Tomorrow he is not going to train again. Hopefully for the next week he will be available."

• January signings Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia will be left out of the Champions League squad. Under Uefa rules, clubs playing in Europe can only register a maximum three new players into their knockout stage squad from their league phase roster. Emery said: "It was not a good decision I had to take but I spoke with Andres and Donyell to tell them the decision."

• On Marcus Rashford: "I only want the best football from him. I think he has huge potential to exploit. I don't want to know the reason he is leaving Manchester but I am very happy keeping him here and I am very happy to help him recover his performances. My challenge with him is a huge challenge. His challenge with us is exciting."

• He dismissed a follow-up question asking about a potential permanent move for Rashford, stating: "We will enjoy each step forward and then the future is only building with the present. If we are trying to get the future before we build the present it's impossible."

Follow all of Friday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news.

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Aston Villa have progressed from just one of their past six FA Cup ties against Tottenham, winning 1-0 at White Hart Lane in a third-round replay after a goalless draw at Villa Park in 1992.