Wolves welcome Aston Villa to Molineux on Saturday evening for the West Midlands Derby. Aston Villa return to Premier League action following their midweek victory over Celtic in the Champions League to secure a top 8 finish. The home side will look to avoid 5 consecutive league defeats.
Wolves have been on a bad run of form recently, this is however having played: Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Forest and Tottenham. Despite only picking up 1 point from a possible 15 over these, Wolves have showed some promising signs. Wolves have scored in 9/11 home games in the league and will feel like they can capitalise on Aston Villa here. Villa have defensive injuries and will be fatigued from their midweek UCL game.
Villa often give up a lot of chances on their travels, especially after they’ve been involved in Europe midweek. Matty Cash, Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings are all set to miss this match. Unai Emery’s side have kept just 1 clean sheet in their previous 12 matches and have conceded 21 goals away from home in the Premier League, which is the 5th worst in the league.
Villa do however always pose a threat going forward. Ollie Watkins & Morgan Rogers are both having blinding seasons and will be brimming with confidence, especially after Rogers’ dream Champions League hattrick. With Wolves without the suspended Joao Gomes, they will be more exposed in midfield – making them more vulnerable in transition. The hosts have conceded 52 goals this season, which is the second most in the Premier League.
The atmosphere will be electric at 5:30 at the Molineux. The rivalry always gets the fans up for it and Wolves fan will want to be the ’12th man’ vs a tired & depleted Villa side. Wolves average 2.22 team yellow cards this season, Villa average 2.17 yellow cards this season. I expect both sides to get at least one card, with potential for a lot more.
Wolves have seen BTTS in 7/11 home league games and have seen O2.5 goals land in 18/25 games this season. As for Villa, they have seen BTTS land in 16/23 league games with O2.5 goals landing in 16/23 games. We are forecasting a fiesty, open game here – with goals…
TIP: Both Teams to Score & Both Teams To Receive 1+ Card @ 1.84
