Aston Villa vs Wolves: Match preview, predicted line-ups, head-to-head record, key players, and match prediction

Aston Villa take on West-Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park this Saturday. Villa are looking to build on their fantastic start to the season which has seen them win three out of four in the Premier League, as well as their win against Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, Wolves will be looking for their first victory of the season after a poor start that sees them sitting in the relegation zone with just one point from a possible twelve.

Head-to-head record

Aston Villa and Wolves will clash for the 137th time in their history with Villa winning 57 of those fixtures. In recent years Villa have typically struggled against Wolves having won only two of the last ten meetings.

Since Villa's promotion back to the Premier League in 2019 the two teams have faced each other at Villa Park five times with Villa winning just once, Wolves winning twice and two draws. Last season's 2-0 win at Villa Park was the Unai Emery's team's first win over their black-and-gold rivals in four years. Moussa Diaby and Ezri Konsa scored the goals that secured a comfortable win for Villa and with the team increasing in quality and confidence they will hope that this head-to-head record will improve this weekend.

Wolves' early season struggles

Wolves have had a very poor start to the season after securing just one point from their opening four Premier League games and exiting the Carabao Cup. Wolves were handed one of the most difficult away games possible on the opening day and fell to an unsurprising 2-0 defeat to Arsenal. The results that have followed in the past few weeks are definitely of greater concern.

Conceding six goals at home to Chelsea was a shock to the system for Wolves and results since haven't improved the mood among the fans. A scrappy 1-1 draw away at Forest gave them their first point of the season and they looked to be nearing their first win against Newcastle last weekend. After going 1-0 up through Mario Lemina, Newcastle showed little threat and the West-Midlands side were looking solid. However, two late goals from Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes turned the game on its head and handed Wolves their third defeat in four games in the league.

So far this season only two of the newly promoted teams, Southampton and Ipswich Town, have scored fewer goals than Wolves and only Everton have conceded more. The stats suggest that Wolves are struggling at both ends of the pitch and with Villa scoring three goals in both of their previous two games, they are likely to feel under huge defensive pressure again on Saturday. However, with a strong head-to-head record historically, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil will be hoping their fortunes can change this weekend.

Team news

After playing on a plastic playing surface described as "shocking" by skipper John McGinn, Villa did well to come away from Tuesday's game in Switzerland without any further injury problems. Ollie Watkins was seen sitting in the dugout with an ice pack strapped to his ankle after being replaced by John Duran, but Unai Emery has confirmed that it was just precautionary and nothing to be concerned about.

Leon Bailey didn't play on Tuesday but was named on the substitute bench and is therefore ready to play again after recovering from the hamstring strain suffered in the victory at Leicester City. Matty Cash will remain an absentee from the squad as he continues to recover from the thigh injury sustained three weeks ago. It is believed he will likely be ready to return to the squad in the next two weeks. Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are also nearing a return.

Gary O'Neil made ten changes to the side that lost to Newcastle ahead of their Carabao Cup game at Brighton in an attempt to allow extended recovery time for those carrying minor knocks. O'Neil has claimed that Toti, who scored a winning goal against Villa in 2023, will be fit to play having recovered from a minor hamstring strain.

Craig Dawson is a doubt whilst Rayan Ait-Nouri is also struggling to win the time battle to be fit having suffered an ankle injury. Yerson Mosquera has been struggling with calf issues in recent weeks and played through the pain against Newcastle.

Key players to keep an eye on

Fans across the football community have all been talking about the box office talent that is Jhon Duran. The Colombian has three match-winning goals to his name already this season, all after coming off the bench, and he produced another exquisite finish in Villa's Champions League win over Young Boys on Tuesday. The goal was harshly chalked off for a handball in the build-up to the goal but it is clear for all to see that his confidence is at an all-time high. Don't be surprised if you see Duran named as a substitute again this weekend, but also expect that he will come onto the pitch and make an impact at some point.

If you were to say that Youri Tielemans has been Villa's player of the season so far, I doubt many people would be able to disagree with you. The Belgian international has had a sensational start to the season and slotted into former Villa player Douglas Luiz's No.6 role with no issues at all, and if anything, is playing at a level above what Luiz showed last season. Having scored and been awarded Man of the Match against Young Boys on Tuesday, his confidence will be high and his through balls in behind a Wolves defence that leaks a high number of goals could be crucial.

For Wolves, Matheus Cunha is without a doubt the star player. The Brazilian international, capped 11 times by his country, produced 19 combined goals and assists last season to help steer Wolves away from a relegation battle. He has one goal to his name so far this season having scored in the team's heavy defeat to Chelsea, and he will hope to get his opportunity against a Villa team yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season.

Joao Gomes has been described as one of the Premier League's most underrated midfielders in the past and he will need to be on top of his game to destruct Villa's fluidity through the midfield. As a defensive midfielder whose role is typically to break up the play, he will need to work effectively to combat the running of the likes of Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey through the middle. Villa thrive on picking the ball up in midfield and driving the ball forward, and should Gomes have a good game then Villa's chances could be limited.

Predicted line-ups

Aston Villa: Martinez, Nedeljkovic, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Ramsey, Rogers, Watkins

Wolves: Johnstone, Semedo, Mosquera, Toti, Doherty, Lemina, Gomes, Andre, Guedes, Hee-Chan, Cunha

Match prediction

The look of this game is similar to that of the Everton game last weekend. Villa, who are in red hot form, are up against a team winless and devoid of confidence. That game against the Toffees proved to be a tricky one and Villa had to work hard to come from two goals down to secure the three points. I feel Wolves will provide a challenge but one that the Villa team will overcome fairly comfortably. The confidence running through the team following Tuesday's win in the Champions League will carry them through this match and I am therefore predicting a convincing win for the Villa.

Aston Villa 3-1 Wolves (Watkins, Rogers, Duran)

UTV