FA Cup Semi-Final Weekend Preview & Match Tips
Will Jackson 
The FA Cup marches onto Wembley this weekend, with the final four teams set to fight it out for a place in the showpiece final in May.
The semi-finals are very finely poised in what should be an entertaining weekend in the oldest cup competition in the world of football, and we will have more football betting offers heading your way to top things off.
Picking a winner is a hard one to call, but Manchester City are the clear favourites with online betting sites before a ball has been kicked, but let's take a closer look at each game.
Let's have a look at some tips to use with your free bets!
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
- Aston Villa to win and BTTS
- Jefferson Lerma to be carded
I'm expecting a really fun game from this one, definitely the pick of the two semi-finals in my eyes.
Villa have been the entertainers of late. Anyone who watched the Champions League home tie against PSG will know what they are capable of, but if you look at their list of results, Palace might not be too discouraged.
For starters, both teams have scored in five of Villa's previous six matches which suggests that while they have attacking talent up there with the best in the Premier League, they have sacrificed a bit of stability at the back.
They have so much ability up front though - and Palace have been in bad form themselves - that they should win, and I expect Ollie Watkins to put in a statement performance if he is restored to the starting XI as I expect him to be.
Jefferson Lerma has been shown three yellow cards in his last four matches and if he lines up on the right-hand side of a back three again, he could be given a tough time by Marcus Rashford.
He can be pretty rash - no pun intended - so keep an eye out for a yellow card to be shown.
Nottingham Forest v Manchester City
- Manchester City to win in extra time
- BTTS and under 3.5 goals
While the first game of the weekend should be a fun one, with two attacking teams going at each other, I expect this one to be quite the opposite.
There's no secrets about how Forest will aproach this one, they will sit deep, invite pressure onto them and hope to hit City on the counter.
City on the other hand will be happy to dominate and probe away, which could make it a fairly tedious game to watch at times if they can't find the zip they have played with in the past - although recent form suggests they are starting to find their groove again.
In the two games between these two so far this season, City won the first 3-0 before Forest triumphed 1-0 at the City ground, and I think we'll be in for a close one this time round.
Forest's last three FA Cup games - against Exeter, Ipswich and Brighton - have all gone to penalties and I would not be surprised to see that happen again, and certainly for it to get to extra time - a fourth penalty shootout in a row would be ridiculous!
A narrow City win is my tip, they scraped past Villa on Tuesday and have beaten Bournemouth and Everton by narrow margins recently along with an insipid 0-0 draw with Manchester United - don't be surprised if this one goes all the way.
More Football Tips
There is still plenty of Premier League action this weekend, so in addition to our FA Cup tips don't forget to check out the latest Premier League tips from our team.
FA Cup Outright Odds
