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Crystal Palace and Aston Villa meet this weekend in the first FA Cup semi-final, and it's live on talk SPORT. The Eagles and Villans are two clubs starved of success, and the chance to end their respective silverware droughts is just two games away. Villa haven't won a trophy since 1996 when they picked up the League Cup at the old Wembley. Meanwhile, Palace are one of the only current top-flight clubs never to pick up a piece of silverware. If Oliver Glasner's men could do it, they would be legends forever. But first, they have to get past an in-form Villa side led by Unai Emery. When Marcus Rashford moved from Manchester United to Villa Park on loan in January, it was a move that could have gone either way. This was a player low on confidence and game time, but after a slowish start, the England international is starting to prove why he's always been rated so highly. Rashford has had the odd poor game, but more often than not, he has delivered for Villa and is even starting to keep Ollie Watkins on the bench. Villa do have an option to buy inserted into the deal with United, but talk SPORT understands Rashford is eyeing a move to a huge European club. In truth, it would be strange if he decided to leave Villa, but his wages are likely to be a problem for the Villans, and that could see this turn into a short but sweet relationship. The Eagles drew 2-2 with Arsenal on Wednesday night, and Glasner elected not to start a couple of his key players. Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr came on as substitutes, but they will almost certainly start on Saturday. Chris Richards will also return from his one-match ban for two yellow cards against Bournemouth. Villa were also in midweek action, losing 2-1 to Manchester City, and Emery will probably shuffle his pack. John Mc Ginn, Marco Asensio, Tyrone Mings and Ian Maatsen are among the players who could come in. After securing a hard-fought draw at the Emirates, Glasner has sent a clear message to his team. He said: “I'm really proud of the players and how they performed today. “It was a great performance. It will help us, because I think it was the best performance for weeks now and this was important. We were talking about entering the semi-final with belief, with courage and with confidence, and this is what we can take from today. “We have to show the same focus, the same discipline, the same belief, the same confidence, and the same tactical discipline in and out of possession. We have to move the ball so quickly like we did today. We have to be focused in our set plays, in attack and in defence, and this will be important. “But of course, we need the talent, we need the quality of our players, we need the spirit, we need the tactical discipline, and of course we need our heart and our mind. I think especially for these two, this performance was very positive. “We’re very excited. I think everyone who is connected with Palace is very excited, but I think on the other side, it's also important to stay calm. It's a football game, and we showed today that we are in good shape. Aston Villa are in great shape as well. ” This FA Cup semi-final will take place on Saturday, April 26. The match at Wembley will kick-off at 5: 15pm. talk SPORT will have live coverage from north London, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter. Commentary will come from Sam Matterface and former West Ham striker Dean Ashton. To tune in to talk SPORT through the website,  click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talk SPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM. talk SPORT. com will also regular updates on our live football blog. The match will also be shown on BBC One and BBC i Player. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

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