Will Wolverhampton end the goal drought?
For the relegation-threatened Wolves, the journey goes to Birmingham to the wine reds of Aston Villa on the nineteenth matchday. Both teams disappointed in the first third of the season and drew early personnel consequences. Both Wolves and Villans have had a new coach on the sidelines since November. At least for the hosts, this change has paid off so far, but the visitors have also shown a slight upward trend in recent games.
Despite their passable performances after the World Cup break, the golden blacks go into this clash in the underdog role. In the match between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton, the bookmakers’ predictions see advantages for the hosts, who landed a surprise coup at Spurs last weekend. A win against Wolves would mean a move into the upper midfield.
If the fresh momentum that the coaching changes were supposed to bring is not to fizzle out again, Wolves in particular need a sense of achievement on this weekday fixture. They need to score in order to leave the relegation places before the FA Cup weekend. We’ll find out if they can do that at Villa Park on Wednesday from 21:00. The hosts’ form seems more stable at the moment, though.
Aston Villa – Statistics & current form
In the last season, the Villans romped around in the secure midfield. The relegation battle was not an issue and also upwards there were not many options. This season, the start was in the sand and just above the line, they pulled the ripcord in Birmingham and handed over the responsibility to the new coach Unai Emery.
A move that has paid off completely so far. Aston Villa are now twelfth in the table and have made contact with the upper midfield. With 21 points, the home side are now seven points ahead of the relegation zone. With a nine-point gap to the international places, it will be difficult to launch another attack here.
With new coach, Villa took nine points from four games
With Emery, success came back to Villa Park. Four league games have been played under his management and the record is absolutely convincing. In addition to victories against Manchester United (3:1), Brighton & Hove Albion (2:1) and Spurs (2:0), the only defeat was a 3:1 defeat against the Reds from Liverpool.
The previously weak offensive now seems to be getting into gear. In the last four games, at least one goal was scored and the red wine team now has nineteen successes to its name. Not yet a top result, but a clear trend in the right direction is discernible.
The top scorer is Danny Ings with five goals. The defence still delivers with 25 goals conceded, which is only enough for the bottom half of the table in this record.
Aston Villa with positive home record
Aston Villa have won four and lost three at home to Villa Park. However, with their upcoming opponents not really convincing in the last few games, betting on the wine red and light blue is a good choice between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton at odds of 2.00 at the top.
In the EFL Cup, the seven-time champions were knocked out of the competition by a 4-2 defeat at Manchester United. In the FA Cup, however, Emery’s side face bottom side Stevenage next Sunday and face a doable task.
Predicted Aston Villa line-up:
Olsen – Young, Konsa, Mings, Digne – McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Buendia – Bailey, Watkins
Last matches played by Aston Villa:
Premier League
01/01/2023 – Tottenham 0 – 2 Aston Villa
27/12/2022 – Aston Villa 1 – 3 Liverpool FC
Club friendlies
16/12/2022 – Aston Villa 0 – 1 Villarreal FC
11/12/2022 – Chelsea FC 0 – 1 Aston Villa
08/12/2022 – Aston Villa 2 – 2 Brighton
Wolverhampton – Statistics & current form
After a completely messed-up start to the season, Portuguese coach Bruno Lage was forced to pack his bags in October. After the 2-0 defeat against the Hammers and a meagre six points on the books, those responsible drew the consequences and terminated the contract with the 46-year-old. A successor, Julen Lopetegui, was presented just a few weeks later.
Under his leadership, however, the situation in the standings hardly improved. The Wolves won three and drew four of the seventeen games they played. With a total of thirteen points, this currently means nineteenth place in the standings. The gap to West Ham United is only one point and with a win in Birmingham there is a chance to leave the relegation places.
Wolverhampton with disastrous goal haul
But to achieve that goal, the knot must finally be broken on the offensive end. No other team overcame the opponent’s keeper more rarely than the Wolves. The Lopetegui team scored only ten times. It is astonishing that Ruben Neves, a defensive midfielder, is the most successful scorer
He has already scored four times this season. The defence has made a slightly better impression so far. Keeper Jose Sa has had to fish the ball out of his own box 26 times.
The start under the new coach was promising. After the compulsory victory in the EFL Cup over FC Gillingham, there was also a 2-1 win at FC Everton in the first league match under his direction. The winning goal came in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The visitors also put in a decent performance against Manchester United, narrowly losing 1-0.
First away win by Wolves
Even though the Toffees finally managed their first away win, the successes on the opponent’s pitch have been more than sparse so far. Two draws and five defeats are to be found in the balance.
Before the clash with Liverpool FC in the FA Cup at the weekend, full concentration will be on the performance at the Villans.
Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:
Jose Sa – Bueno, Kilman, Collins, Semedo – Matheus Nunes, Neves, Moutinho – Podence, Costa, Hwang
Last matches played by Wolverhampton:
Premier League
31/12/2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 1 Manchester United
26/12/2022 – Everton 1 – 2 Wolverhampton
Carabao Cup
21/12/2022 – Wolverhampton 2 – 0 Gillingham
Club Friendlies
14/12/2022 – Cadiz 3 – 4 Wolverhampton
09/12/2022 – Empoli 1 – 1 Wolverhampton
Aston Villa – Wolverhampton Direct comparison / H2H record
A proud 110 times the two sides have met in the Premier League. The Villans have 46 wins to their name and the visitors have been successful 38 times. According to the bookmakers, the home side will continue to build on this record. In the match between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton, the forecasts see advantages for the claret and blue at odds of 2.00 in the top.
However, the hosts have only prevailed in one of their last six matches with Wolves. The Gold and Blacks, on the other hand, have been victorious four times. The Wanderers have taken seven points from their last three encounters at Villa Park. Only one of the last six games remained goalless.
Aston Villa – Wolverhampton Tip
Because of the poor start to the season, both clubs were forced to make a change at the coaching position early on. With Emery and Lopetegui, experienced coaches were hired. The Villans have so far proved to be the luckier side. Under the new coach, the red wine team took nine of the possible twelve points and improved their situation in the table considerably.
The visitors, on the other hand, are still struggling. They did manage a last-minute win at Everton FC, but apart from that they haven’t done much for their points tally. Especially the strikers’ lack of goals must give the Spanish coach pause for thought. Without a decent attacking game, it will be difficult to get anything worthwhile in Birmingham.
Recent performances are clearly in favour of the home side in our view. With Spurs and ManUtd, two contenders for an international starting place were defeated. We therefore assume that Wolves will not be a stumbling block and recommend betting on the hosts in the Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton match at odds of 2.00 at the top.
Due to the lack of goals scored by Wolves, a small bet on a win for the red wine team without conceding a goal can be risked in the Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton match, at odds of 3.20. A fun fact on the side. Aston Villa have lost their last seven games against a team whose name begins with W.
