Aston Villa FC
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
West Midlands derby sees Villa take on Wolves with both sides searching for consistency
Aston Villa 1-1 Wolves
Neither Aston Villa nor Wolves are easy to predict right now and, with both sitting in the middle of the Premier League table, have experienced both ups and downs this season.
With Jack Grealish missing for Villa’s last couple of games, they’ve experienced mixed form by beating Leeds professionally before losing rather surprisingly against bottom club Sheffield United.
Those two games in hand mean that Villa could still cause some damage further up the table, but are in danger of allowing a promising season go to waste with their inability to string a run of good results together.
Wolves have suffered a similar fate, although have spent most of the season in the bottom half. It goes without saying just how much they’ve missed star striker Raul Jimenez, but have coped a little better in recent weeks and came close to claiming a point off Manchester City in their last game.
Form Guide (all comps): WDLWL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Looking to secure a league double over Wolves after win back in December
Have been fantastic at keeping clean sheets this season
Reasons to be fearful:
Failed to score more than once in their last seven games
Have lost 50% of their matches since 26th December
Aston Villa must yet again play without their injured talisman Jack Grealish here, after producing mixed results without him in their last two games.
The effect their captain has on the team is immense, and with seven goals and 10 assists this season, it’s no wonder that he is constantly linked with bigger clubs.
Villa struggled considerably to break down Sheffield United in midweek and will face a similarly stubborn side here as they go in search of what would only be their fourth win from 11 games.
Scoring goals has certainly become a problem, and in their last seven matches, they’ve failed to score multiple goals. Unless you have a watertight defence, you are always likely to drop points in those situations.
Here, Villa will go for the win as they always do, but coming away with a draw would not be the worst result for them.
Star Man – Ollie Watkins
Villa need their top scorer to step up here in the absence of Grealish.
Form Guide (all comps): LWWDL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Are harder to beat recently, with one defeat in six
Ruben Neves has been quality in midfield, with five goals in 10
Reasons to be fearful:
Just one league win from the last nine
Have opened the scoring just once in their last 17 league matches
Wolves looked good value for a point against Manchester City in their last game, before conceding three goals in the last 10 minutes of the match and coming away with nothing.
Conceding goals has been a problem for them all season, with the opposition taking the lead in 16 of the last 17 matches in the league. In fairness, they have rescued 13 points from losing positions, but falling behind is not the stubborn Wolves we know from seasons past.
Going forward is a problem too, especially for former Villa player Adama Traore, who has now gone 45 league matches without a goal for Wolves.
Here, there are no new injury concerns for the manager, and Willy Boly could return to play a role.
Star Man – Ruben Neves
Is the heartbeat of this Wolves side, and is getting the goals to help his team through a tricky period.
Both sides will relish a derby match to get them going
A low scoring game
Possession split fairly evenly
Both sides would likely take a point here, particularly with quality players missing on both teams and goals hard to come by right now.
Villa play with a more attacking approach than Wolves, but as the away side showed Manchester City in midweek, they are no pushovers.
Aston Villa 1-1 Wolves
