There is a West Midlands derby to get pleasure from within the Premier League on Saturday as Aston Villa welcome Wolves to Villa Park.
Villa enter the weekend’s bout having celebrated their Champions League return with a 3-0 win over Younger Boys within the Swiss capital on Tuesday night time. Unai Emery’s facet initially struggled to decide on the unfamiliar synthetic turf, however they grew into the competition and dominated their hosts after Youri Tielemans handed them a first-half lead.
Their solely blemish on the home entrance was a 2-0 defeat at dwelling to Arsenal on Matchday 2 – a recreation they actually would not have misplaced had Ollie Watkins been in 2023/24 type. The Villans have received three out of 4 video games and fought again from 2-0 all the way down to beat Everton final weekend.
Villa’s West Midlands rivals have endured a poor begin to the season heading into Saturday’s derby and the stress could also be beginning to ramp up on Gary O’Neil. Wolves have notched only one level from their opening 4 video games and exited the Carabao Cup in midweek as they had been crushed 3-2 by Brighton on the Amex.
Right here is 90min’s information to Aston Villa’s Premier League conflict in opposition to Wolves.
Aston Villa vs Wolves H2H File (Final 5 Video games)
Present type (all competitions)
Aston Villa | Wolves |
|---|---|
Younger Boys 0-3 Aston Villa – 17/09/24 | Brighton 3-2 Wolves – 18/09/24 |
Aston Villa 3-2 Everton – 14/09/24 | Wolves 1-2 Newcastle – 15/09/24 |
Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa – 31/08/24 | Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves – 31/08/24 |
Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal – 24/08/24 | Wolves 2-0 Burnley – 28/08/24 |
West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa – 17/08/24 | Wolves 2-6 Chelsea – 25/08/24 |
Nation | TV channel/stay stream |
|---|---|
United Kingdom | N/A |
United States | Peacock |
Canada | fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports activities Community 2 Canada |
Emery took no possibilities with winger Leon Bailey on the substitute turf in midweek however the Jamaica worldwide may very well be again in motion this weekend.
There are some issues over the standing of Ollie Watkins, who was pictured with ice strapped to his ankle after coming off in Bern on Tuesday. Nevertheless, Emery assured supporters that nothing is fallacious with the Villa ahead and he must be okay to start out on Saturday – even with Jhon Duran ready within the wings.
The hosts, although, are nonetheless with out long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara. Matty Money and Robin Olsen are additionally out.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Wolves (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Nedeljkovic, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Ramsey, Rogers; Watkins.
O’Neil rang the modifications for Wolves’ Carabao Cup defeat at Brighton on Wednesday night time and the guests’ heavy hitters ought to all return to the XI on Saturday. Joao Gomes, in the meantime, will retain his place in midfield.
An ankle damage sustained in final Sunday’s loss to Newcastle means star wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri is unlikely to characteristic at Villa Park, with Craig Dawson set to overlook out, too. Toti Gomes will return to the fold after recovering from a hamstring damage, however Wolves won’t be able to name upon Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez and Boubacar Traore this weekend.
Jose Sa’s struggles continued in midweek, so Sam Johnstone ought to get the nod between the sticks.
Wolves predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-4-1-1): Johnstone; Semedo, Mosquera, Bueno, Toti; Bellegarde, J. Gomes, Lemina, R. Gomes; Cunha; Larsen.
Wolves’ latest run on this fixture will encourage some hope inside the guests that they are able to strolling away with a end result, nevertheless it does appear to be a tricky ask.
Whereas O’Neil’s facet ought to provide a few tactical queries, they’re as soon as once more with out a few key gamers which can cut back their risk and hinder their dynamics. Ait-Nouri’s seemingly absence is big.
Villa had been capable of cruise on Tuesday night time, so fatigue should not be an excessive amount of of a problem, and the hosts ought to be capable of trip a wave of optimistic momentum all through the upcoming derby whereas strolling to a routine victory on dwelling soil.
