Wolves v Aston Villa: Premier League – live
Key events
Team news
Wolves XI: Sá; Mosquera, Santi Bueno, Toti; Tchatchoua, Joao Gomes, Andre, Hugo Bueno; Bellegarde, Armstrong, Mané.
Subs: Johnstone, Doherty, Wolfe, Lima, Gomes, Olagunju, Gomes, Arokodare, Edozie.
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Luiz; Sancho, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Lindelof, Maatsen, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Bailey, Abraham, Alysson.
Preamble
Aston Villa fans are nervous about this one. Wolves have not lost at home against their Midlands rivals since 2020 and generally have a decent record in this fixture when it’s played at Molineux. After a slump in form Unai Emery’s side are no longer looking up the table and instead have a resurgent Manchester United breathing uncomfortably down their neck like an unwanted admirer on a sweaty dancefloor. With others in the hunt for Europe starting to appear in Villa’s rearview mirror, it is a bad time for the goals to have dried up, but that they have. Four goals in their last five games have been enough to earn one two draws, two defeats and one win.
Out of the FA Cup and handed a testing tie against Lille in the Europa League, the next month is going to be crucial in determining the outcome of Villa’s season. In theory this is exactly the kind of fixture they would want right now, a struggling opponent with one of the league’s worst defences, but Wolves will be up for this.
For Rob Edwards’ team, the rest of this season should be about creating enough of a platform to come straight back up. Edwards needs to find positivity in performances and get as many points on the board as possible, even if it all feels a little futile. Eight of their 10 points this season have been earned over the past 10 matches, which is encouraging. Emery said Villa’s win in the reverse fixture was one his team “didn’t deserve” in his pre-match briefing before the short trip to Wolverhampton, which is interesting motivational material to say the least.
Ross Barkley, Jadon Sancho and Tammy Abraham may come into the Villa side, who are missing John McGinn and Youri Tielemans, as well as Boubacar Kamara, who is done for the rest of the season. Hwang Hee-chan is missing for Wolves due to a calf problem and Ladislav Krejci is suspended.
January window arrival Angel Gomes could make a return to a starting XI where Mateus Mané, the eye-catching 18-year-old forward, will likely continue his run of starts.
