Wolves Vs Aston Villa Preview
I’m dreading this game.
Ruben injured, Raul suspended and Villa motivated by that late smash and grab job we did on them earlier in the season to hijack the points.
Regardless of the outcome, we really shouldn’t finish lower than eighth this season, given the points deficit and some of the presentable fixtures remaining but going higher seems fanciful.
Losing to Leeds in the manner we did was a hammer blow and the fallout has left us depleted and vulnerable.
Wolves have conjured results after big setbacks before this season but taking everything into account, this would be the biggest.
Villa
All the components should be in place for Villa to challenge for Europe but despite a lot of star talent, there’s a soft underbelly that holds them back.
There’s no shame in narrowly losing to West Ham and Arsenal (we know that well enough) but coming in off three morale-boosting victories I would have backed them to get a result in at least one of those games.
They also got turned over by Newcastle and Watford recently, which shouldn’t happen if you’re serious about disrupting the elite.
I hear a lot of Villa supporters talking about the need for a holding midfielder and given the seemingly relentless ambition of the owners and their ability to invest you’d imagine another big name will arrive in the summer.
Philippe Coutinho was an inspired January addition but youngster Jacob Ramsey has been equally impressive at times. I watched him for the England U21s the other night and thought he was excellent.
I think I’m correct in saying Tyrone Mings is suspended for this game. The big defender gets mixed reviews, but he’s an important presence for them and I think his absence increases our chances of a favourable result.
It’s 6 wins and 9 defeats from their 15 away matches to date making them the only team in the Premier League not to draw a single game on their travels, underlining their up and down credentials.
The away end
Some comments lifted from the pre-match thread on a popular Villa forum.
The one player from Wolves who 100% gets in our team is Neves and he ain’t playing on Saturday. Jimenez is not the player he was pre-injury but is still the best striker on their books, and he’s also not playing. Neto would have got in our team 12 months ago but he’s missed nearly 12 months of football since then, he’s only started one game since coming back (Palace home which they lost 2-0) and didn’t make the bench last 2 games so clearly got injured again. He won’t be anywhere near fully fit and doubtful he’ll start. They have a strong defence playing 5 at the back and are certainly greater than the sum of their parts but if we can’t take at least a point from this game, if not all 3, then it will once again be a game where this team have let themselves down. Wolves have trouble scoring and if we can breach their defence even just once we should be at least taking a draw. I feel we need all 3 though as Spurs, Liverpool and Leicester after this and we need a confidence-boosting win really. Gerrard was always great in derbies, he needs to ensure the team he manages are because we need to be well up for this right from the start.
Need a good mentality out the gate. Players need to view this as a derby match and show some passion and grit for the full 90 minutes. They have been stumbing lately and have more to play for. Will be a very tough game. I’m happy with a hard fought draw.
Well we are better than the likes of Brighton and Southampton but not as good as West ham and arsenal….wonder where we lie in comparison to these!
Wolves have lost about 7 at home now including to likes of Palace and Leeds in last few weeks. Burnley also got a 0-0 there in December so defend well and we should get at least a draw imo. Think like us they’ve won more away than at home. If we’re as lax as v Arsenal then probably another 1-0 defeat as they’re a very hard team to get points off if they go ahead in the game (apart from v Leeds but that was just a freak defensive display in last half hour).
Wolves
What would I do? I think you’ve got to pack the midfield because an open game suits Villa more than us and you’d back their attackers to do the damage.
That means Moutinho, Dendoncker and Cundle all starting, in the sort of shape we saw at Tottenham.
The other problem is the front two. I think Fabio has to start because we’ve never looked good without a centre forward and if this isn’t an opportunity for him, when will it be?
Another way to go would be a more conventional front three and maybe having Hwang/Podence in the side at the expense of Cundle. But then you’re probably playing a game that suits Villa a bit more. No doubt this is a tough one for Bruno with the paucity of options we have up top and in midfield.
Last time out
I hardly need to remind anyone about the miracle at Villa Park. Unlike the turnaround Leeds managed against us, there was no obvious catalyst and it just didn’t seem possible to claw that game back but somehow we did it with Ruben’s deflected free-kick sealing the glory.
We lost at home last season with Nelson Semedo bundling over John McGinn to give them a penalty with the last kick of the game. That was a frustrating encounter and summed up our poor season. It was a drab stalemate later in the season in the return fixture.
Predictions
Nobody got the 2-3 scoreline against Leeds and it was generally slim pickings in the Prediction League last time out.
Brompton Wolf remains clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 30.
As always, if you’d like to join in, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!
Polite request – when commenting in the preview article after the game has finished, can you not place score predictions in the boxes, please? It confuses the system. Many thanks.