Looking for back to back wins to begin 2023, Aston Villa host Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves at Villa Park. Here’s the latest heading into this West-Midlands clash…
THE BUILD UP
Aston Villa began the new year in perfect style with a 2-0 victory against Antonio Conte’s Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on New Years day. A resolute first-half performance was topped by a dominant second as Emi Buendía and Douglas Luiz registered their second goals of the season to record consecutive away victories for the claret and blue side.
As a result, Unai Emery became the first manager since John Gregory in 1998 to win their first two games on the road in charge at Villa and the Spaniard will be looking for consistency from his side as they prep over just a three-day period for Wolves tomorrow night.
Wolves began their 2023 campaign on the end of a 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United. This contest against The Red Devils was head coach Lopetegui’s third game at the helm, after getting the better of Gillingham in the EFL Cup before Christmas and dramatically defeating Lampard’s struggling Everton at Goodison Park on Boxing Day.
Marcus Rashford’s well executed goal was the difference at Molineux last weekend, but Erik ten Hag’s team were well matched throughout by the home side. Poor form prior to the World Cup break means The Wanderers sit in a disappointing 19th as it stands – Lopetegui will look to put a change to that over the coming weeks.
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery has confirmed that No.1 Emi Martínez is back fit and ready ahead of Wednesday’s game. The World Cup winner was on the bench for the victory in North London on Sunday as Robin Olsen began the game in net. On Martínez’s last few days and head space, the head coach said: “He’s been with us and travelled with us (vs Spurs). He trained two days, Friday and Saturday, and he’ll train again with the team.
Douglas Luiz and John McGinn were both withdrawn from Sunday’s fixture at Spurs through injury. Luiz is seemingly okay for tomorrow’s game having just taken a knock on his knee, however John McGinn looks to be out for a little while after pulling up with a torn hamstring.
Elsewhere, this mid-week fixture appears to have come too soon for Jacob Ramsey. The 21-year-old’s return is likely to be this Sunday when Villa host second-in-League Two Stevenage in the third round of this year’s FA Cup. Diego Carlos remains absent but is recovering well – he could return to action next month.
With the January transfer window in full flow, Unai Emery revealed the club’s plan for transfer activity, he said: “We are speaking and we are working on the possibility to add some players. We are speaking as well with some players who can leave. Really, I want to improve everything we can in the squad but I’m so happy with the players because I think we have very good players.”
WOLVES
Julen Lopetegui has revealed that new signing Matheus Cunha will be available for selection and could make his Wolves debut tomorrow night at Villa Park. The 23-year-old Brazilian arrives on an initial loan with an option to buy from Spanish side Atlético Madrid.
Lopetegui also spoke an absence in the latest press conference. The Spanish head coach was keen not to reveal the player’s name, but said: “We are waiting for the doctor, we have had a new problem today but I prefer not to comment. We will wait till this evening to know more about this situation.”
Attacking trio Pedro Neto, Chiquinho and Sasa Kalajdzic are all unavailable. Neto was substituted in the opening 24 minutes of Wolves’ 2-0 loss away to West Ham at the start of October with an ankle injury – his return date is currently unknown.
Kalajdzic was replaced at half-time during the victory over Southampton in September with a knee injury; the Austrian hopes to return before the end of the 2022/23 campaign. Chiquinho meanwhile will not feature at all this term after suffering a bad knee injury during pre-season.
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A BIT ON WOLVES
As mentioned, Wolves have made an underwhelming start to proceedings this season, having registered just 13 points from 17 games, worsened only by Southampton (12) who sit at the foot of the table. The World Cup break appeared to come at a good time for the club as, similarly to Unai Emery at Villa, it allowed time for Lopetegui to put a stamp on his newly-inherited squad before the Premier League returned.
The 56-year-old head coach was previously in charge at Sevilla, Real Madrid and the Spanish national team before making the switch over to the West-Midlands. Boasting a Europa League title with Sevilla in the 2019/20 season, Lopetegui hopes to improve upon Bruno Lage’s poor start to the term and get Wolves back up the table.
The first thing the Basque manager has looked to address is his side’s lack of goals by bringing in Matheus Cunha from Atlético Madrid who is bound to improve their attacking output. Wolves have only scored 10 times in the league this season, netting in less than half of their games, with midfielder Rúben Neves their top scorer with four.
The black and gold side are also looking at other options in the January window, including midfielder Mario Lemina and former Real Madrid and Sevilla star Isco.
In Tuesday’s press conference, Lopetegui commented on his latest signing (Cunha), he said: “He’s a complete player. We can use him in different situations. He’s a forward of course, but it depends on our way of playing. He can play in the middle, as a second forward, or maybe the wing.”
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PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at Liam’s predicted line-up ahead of this big mid-week fixture…
Do you agree? Who makes your side?
Have your own attempt by accessing the following link: https://utvpodcast.co.uk/line-up-selector/.
AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Liam Davies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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