Aston Villa are having a very fine season so far in the Premier League. The Villans will be looking to maintain their grip on fourth place in a bid to qualify for Champions League football next season. Wolverhampton Wanderers are having a decent season themselves with a place in the top half of the Premier League standings to show for their efforts this season.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa were a busy side during the transfer window. Recruiting talents like Moussa Diaby from German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, Spanish defender Pau Torres from La Liga club side Villarreal, Morgan Rogers from Championship side Middlesbrough and Kosta Nedeljkovic from Redstar. Nicolo Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet joined on loan from Turkish giants Galatasaray and Barcelona respectively while Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans joined on a free transfer from Leicester City.
The Villans also let go of a number of players with the likes of young center-forward Cameron Archer leaving for Sheffield United, Marvelous Nakamba joining Luton Town and Keinan Davis signing for Serie A side Udinese Calcio. Veteran English left-back Ashley Young left for Everton on a free transfer while Philippe Coutinho and Morgan Sanson both sealed loan moves away to Al-Duhail FC and OGC Nice respectively.
Wolves made a number of personnel changes during the transfer window themselves signing Brazilian center-forward Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid, Jean-Ricner Bellagarde from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, Santiago Bueno from Spanish side Girona, Boubacar Traore from Ligue 1 side FC Metz and Enso Gonzalez from Libertad. Matt Doherty and goalkeeper Tom King joined from Atletico Madrid and Northampton respectively on free transfers while Tommy Doyle and Noha Lemina transferred from Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain respectively on loan.
Departures from the Wolves ranks include Matheus Nunes who sealed a move to reigning champions Manchester City, Ruben Never to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Nathan Collins to Brentford, English center-back Conor Coady to Championship side Leicester City, Raul Jimenez to Premier League rivals Fulham, Ryan Giles to newly promoted Luton Town and Hayao Kawabe to Belgian top-flight team Standard Liege. Daniel Podence and Goncalo Guedes completed loan moves away to Olympiacos and Benfica respectively while the likes of Diego Costa, Joao Mutinho and Adama Traore left Wolves for Botofago, SC Braga and Fulham respectively on free transfers.
Aston Villa have been enjoying life under Spanish boss Unai Emery so far in the Premier League this season. The Villans’ 55 points tally see them sit in 4th place on the Premier League table with a record of 17 wins, 4 draws and 7 losses after playing 28 matches. Emery’s men have scored an impressive 59 goals in the league this season, the joint fourth highest in the league. Their concession tally of 41 goals brings their goal difference up to 18.
The Villans have recorded 3 wins, 0 draws and 2 losses in their last five outings in the Premier League. This mixed run of results kicked off against Manchester United at Villa Park where they succumbed to a narrow 2-1 defeat despite being the better team over 90 minutes. Aston Villa bounced back from the Man United defeat with three consecutive victories over Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Luton Town respectively before an uncharacteristically lethargic display saw them suffer a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
Wolverhampton Wanderers will be pleased with the way their season has gone so far as they sit in the top half of the Premier League table in 9th position, four places better than their 13th place finish last season. Their record of 12 wins, 5 draws and 11 losses has seen them gather 41 points after 28 rounds of PL matches. Wolves have scored 42 goals while conceding 44 goals in the Premier League this season leaving their goal difference at -2.
Gary O’Neill’s Wolves have not fared badly in recent weeks, recording 3 wins, 0 draws and 2 losses in their last five PL matches. After suffering a 2-0 defeat against Brentford at the Molineux, Wolves responded superbly with back to back victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United respectively. They suffered another defeat at St, James’ Park against Newcastle United before bouncing back to winning ways with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Fulham.
Head to head records show that Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers have met each other 20 times. Aston Villa have recorded 5 wins (scoring 22 goals) while Wolves have recorded 8 wins (scoring 24 goals) with 7 draws.
Match tickets
The epic match at Villa Park in Birmingham kicks off on Saturday, 30th of March 2024 at 17:30 GMT.Â
The magnificent 42,640-capacity stadium will host the Champions League hopefuls and another side hoping to stay in the top half.
Getting Aston Villa vs Wolves tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.Â
Team news
Line-ups
Villa’s form has been wave-like recently and will need a result to get things back on track as we approach the final moments of the season. Injury absentees for Aston Villa include Tyrone Mings (knee), Kortney Hause (knee), Jacob Ramsey (foot), Emiliano Buendia (ACL), and Boubacar Kamara (knee).
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Torres, Digne, McGin, Luiz, Tielemans, Bailey, Watkins
At the moment, iInjury absentees for Wolverhampton Wanderers include Matheus Cunha (hamstring), and Hee-Chang Hwang (hamstring).
Wolves: Sá, Semedo, Bueno, Kilman, Nouri, Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia, Bellegarde, Neto, Fraser
Prediction
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa typically adopt high defensive lines in an attempt to defend away from goal. They press aggressively looking to minimize spaces between the lines and thriving off transitional attacks.Â
Meanwhile, Wolves sit back, defend their box aggressively, and look to catch opponents on the counter. The Villans will have home advantage so we expect that they come out on top of this one.
Aston Villa 2-1 Wolves
