Wolves take on Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League – and it’s a chance to bounce back, and earn some bragging rights in the process.
Before the international break, Wanderers crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Coventry City. The team lost 3-2, with the Championship side scoring two goals in injury-time.
Wolves did not play particularly well, and Coventry deserved their place in the semi-final.
Fans are hoping the players will be using that result as fuel for this Saturday’s clash with Villa at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side are having a great season and are favourites to win this game, as they are very strong at home.
But Gary O’Neil has plenty of scalps to his name this season, and will be hoping for another this weekend…
Chris Sutton makes score prediction for Aston Villa vs Wolves
O’Neil has several injuries at the moment, with Pedro Neto and Hwang Hee-chan longer-term absentees.
Craig Dawson and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde were not seen in training today, suggesting they may both be unavailable for the game.
But Matheus Cunha has been back in training and could feature in some capacity, which would be a real boost.
It will be a tall order for Wolves to get a result against Villa. Their 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur before the international break was a blemish, but their home record this season has been superb.
Pundit Chris Sutton has given his thoughts to BBC Sport about the game, and he feels that Villa are going to edge the contest. Predicting a 2-1 home win, he said: “Wolves were on the wrong end of an upset when they lost to Coventry in the FA Cup last time out, but this has still been a good season for them. They can still finish it strongly but at the moment they are stretched by injuries.
“That’s one of the reasons I fancy Aston Villa here. They were humiliated by Tottenham in their last home game and that is definitely not going to happen again this time.”
Wolves must be solid at the back
This has the potential to be a pretty tough game.
Villa are a very potent side under Emery, and have a lot of pace up top. Ollie Watkins has put up great numbers this season, and Leon Bailey has also been a big threat in a lot of games.
Toti Gomes could potentially be very key on Saturday with his pace and athleticism. But the whole defensive unit needs to be on it if Wolves are going to come away with anything.
It is a real shame Neto and Hwang are not available for this game. Because Villa are likely to have more of the ball and pen Wolves in, meaning the counter-attack may be the tactic of choice for O’Neil.
Hopefully, Cunha can get on at some point and offer a threat up top, unless Nathan Fraser or Leon Chiwome can come up with the goods.
